Erotic 19th Century Engraving by Jean-Frédéric Schall

By the late 16th century enemas were all the rage. The common belief was that a good clyster would cure everything from skin blemishes, to constipation, to aging. Fashionable aristocrats could have about four of these a day. It was not uncommon for apothecaries to walk the streets with their clyster tubes thrown casually over their shoulders so that all could see. Louis the XIV, predecessor to Louis the XVI, aka the Sun King, is rumoured to have been so fond of enemas that he had them performed on him in front of his court. 

The 18^th century also saw a decadent sexual revolution for the privileged, where the old-world pressures of church and state behaviour waned and the floodgates to libertine perversity opened. Rococo art was this era's erotic entertainment. Sexually charged painting and erotic literature were abundant, encouraged and consumed en-masse by all: from tacky prints and scratchy etchings to sensuous oils on canvas. A small armoury of artistic musketeers would dominate 18th century French artistic taste and becoming the emissaries of erotica. One of them was Jean-Frédéric Schall, who had two personalities as an artist – so many of his small-scale works depict seemingly innocent maidens frolicking through idyllic settings, but he also liked to heat things up on the canvas. 

This 19th century engraving is a rare conversation piece, sourced by Nessy following her interest on the unusual subject. 

35,7 x 29,5 cm

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