4/ Having run my fair share of international races, I can safely say that other than perhaps the Disney marathon series, the London marathon & British running culture more widely bring out more costumed runners than any other comparable events.
#masquerademondays
1/ Happy marathon Monday! Yesterday runners took to the streets of London, winding 26.2 miles through the capital. I haven’t run it yet, missing out on the lottery & best for age in equal measure, but I spectated & was on the lookout for fancy dress.
#MasqueradeMondays
4/ The birth of the fancy dress ball stems directly from the masquerade and their shared existence in Georgian and Victorian culture is reflective of wider changes in leisure. And, as it turns out, there are waaaay more similarities than differences… #MasqueradeMondays
Finally back to writing. And oh boy, is this masquerade a hoot. Everybody who was anybody showed up for the King of Denmark. Except one person 👀👀👀 #MasqueradeMondays #18thc
1/ Happy Masquerade Monday! After a long intervention from Lent (or so says nineteenth-century Britain), we’re back in action.
Up through the 1840s, Lent was often bookended by masquerades.
#MasqueradeMondays #19thc #18thc
📷 Illustration, George Cruikshank, 1842, British Museum
1/ Anyone else watching Masked Singer UK 🎭?
[Don’t worry—no spoilers here. Just taking #MasqueradeMondays into a contemporary topic this week]
I’ve typically enjoyed the show since it started in the States and occasionally claim I watch it for ‘research’…
1/ Have you been to ‘Cult of Beauty’ at the Wellcome Centre yet? If not, get yourself there lickety split. The exhibition is really fantastic and has quite a few masks sprinkled throughout—including a few little masquerade and fancy dress bits too 🥰
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
1/ I’ve been told it’s the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s death. Today’s mask is none other than one of Byron’s carnival masks. It lives at the Keats-Shelley House in Rome.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
📷 Byron’s Carnival Mask, 1820, Keats-Shelley House
Actual footage of me yesterday. Taking a short break from #MasqueradeMondays this week to catch my breath after #18thc @bsecs.bsky.social. More masked miscellany to come next week…
🥸🎶🐓🥗(IYKYK)
Happy New Year & a 2024 of #MasqueradeMondays! Thinking about masks as I pack for #BSECS2024. Have you played Mascarade? It is certainly a visual delight, but how accurate is it…join me at the inaugural @bsecs.bsky.social game night & find out for yourself 🎭🃏🎲
1/ Merry Christmas! Hoping your holiday season is as colourful, festive, & joyful as this lovely little masquerade peep show from the @vamuseum🎄
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc #MerryChristmasquerade
📷 Paper peepshow, Masquerade, London: T.M. Baynes lith. for S. & J. Fuller, 1826, V&A
2/ They could be billowing and concealing or sleek enough to fold and shove in a pocket. The domino’s versatility made it a popular option to wear, but its characterless nature often put a damper on masquerades causing impresarios and hosts to ban it from their venues.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
1/ Can you spot the domino? The ubiquitous cloak & mask was both everywhere & nowhere at the Georgian masquerade. Though it surfaced in visual culture, the domino was underrepresented in masq scenes that were reportedly filled ‘three to one’ with dominos.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc #DominoAndMask
Movie poster for ‘A Haunting in Venice’; 10 suspicious people standing on a bridge with a condal carrying a moustachioed man and ominous domino in the foreground.
‘Clara the Rhinoceros’ by Pietro Longhi 1751 from Wikiart; painting of Venetians wearing a range of dress, including traditional dominos and matellinas, as they observe Clara the Rhino.
1/ The domino is an iconic symbol of the masquerade—and Venice. Brits became familiar with it through art & the Grand Tour. During Venetian carnival visitors could dress in a colourful cloak (black was reserved for locals) paired with a bauta mask & tricorn hat.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc #Domino
Photograph of proofs pages for ‘The Domino’
‘The Domino’ is FINALLY in final production! This little tome will be out in early January with CUP & filled with bits and bobs about #18thc London’s most contentious masquerade habit. Stay tuned for previews on #MasqueradeMondays 👀👀👀
#GeorgianMasquerade #Domino
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Drawing of men and boys standing with colourful advertising boards, 1828, British Museum
Photograph of masquerade peep show depicting people wearing a range of colourful costumes in a decorated, columned assembly space, 1826, from the V&A.
3/ Advertising still circulated on newspapers, but also moved onto colourful posters and signboards. And, like the Georgian era, the masquerade inspired fun ephemera—like paper peep shows.
#MasqueradeMondays #VictorianMasquerade #18thc #19thc
Poster advertising a masquerade at Vauxhall in black and white text, dated 1842, from the V&A
2/ The Victorian masquerade was a very colourful and widely advertised entertainment throughout nineteenth century London and beyond. Popular venues included the Argyll Rooms, the Lowther Rooms, Vauxhall, and the Haymarket (not unlike its Georgian predecessor).
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc #19thc
Masquerade scene at the Argyll Rooms c1826 (from Lewis Walpole Library), depicts people in a range of costumes and dancing.
1/ Just back from #NACBS2023 where I shared new stuff on the Victorian masquerade! Though some scholarship says the masq disappeared, or even died, in the 1790s this was absolutely not the case. It shifted in tone, price, & location attracting a middle class audience.
#MasqueradeMondays #19thc
2/ Mary was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, giving her status & connections. She was a fashionable figure & an avid masquerader. Mary often purchased her habits from renowned masquerade warehouses and hosted viewing parties and masquerades in her London townhouse.
#MasqueradeMondays #18c
1/ The Dss of Ancaster, Mary Panton, has recently made her way into my small collection of miscellaneous masquerade things. In this reproduction of her portrait Mary is wearing a Vandyke-inspired dress while the rotunda of Ranelagh Gardens silently sings of the masquerade.
#MasqueradeMondays #18c
3/ Another fav is the subtle coffin chilling in the corner of the first image. But that’s a tale for another day 😉
Are there any costumes in the prints that have caught your eye? Would you rather go to a masquerade or go trick-or-treating?
🎃👻🎭
#MasqueradeMondays #GeorgianMasquerade #18thc
1/ Excuse the tardiness, but it’s Masquerade Monday on Halloween. There are some similarities between the two: sweetmeats (Georgian confectionary) were an attraction of the masquerade, as was disguise, mischief, & creative, creepy, or character costumes.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
2/ The neoclassical style of tickets reflected elite tastes and often included details of cost and admission specifics. Colour could be used to designate male or female tickets while seals and signatures worked to fight against forgeries.
#MasqueradeMondays #GeorgianMasquerade #18thc
Neoclassical-styled masquerade ticket for Carlisle House from 1770s. Angelic figure sitting on a cloud is holding a sign with masq details written inside.
1/ One thing that surprises people abt the commercial Georgian masquerade is that while masquerades appealed to the masses, they were certainly not for the masses. They required tickets to gain access & were guarded by subscription lists & high prices (£300-£500 today).
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
3/ These masquerades piqued the interest of the beau monde & had a lasting impact on the grandeur & reputation of all those to follow.
What we see today is not what the duc’s masquerade guests saw; the building was knocked in 1775 and rebuilt by William Chambers.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
2/ Somerset Housewas one of the earliest sites of London’s 18thc masquerades. Hosted by the French ambassador (duc D’Aumont) these lavish entertainments were a celebration of the recent Treaty of Utrecht and physical sign of French hospitality and partnership.
#MasqueradeMondays #18thc
1/ Every time I go to London I end up at Somerset House. I fell in love with the space when I first stumbled upon it in 2008 and am still equally as enamoured. It is home to an ever-changing line up of excellent exhibitions and pop-ups.
#MasqueradeMondays #GeorgianMasquerade #18thc
