[Gulliver observes the Lilliputian Royals playing a game] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [Gulliver observes the Lilliputian Royals playing a game]
Subject: Lilliput (Imaginary place); imaginary places; fictional works; imaginary creatures; Fictitious characters; emperors in literature; Kings and rulers; satire
Period: 1800-1850;
Description: In this image we see the Lilliputian Emperor, Empress, and Prime Minister playing a game to determine the hierarchy of the court. The process involves courtier walking underneath sticks of different height. Depending on the height of the stick – held by the Emperor and Prime Minister – the participants are awarded different coloured uniforms. The uniforms are either blue, red, or green, and these colours indicate their place within the court. This episode was understood as a satire on the process of gaining knighthood in the English Court, where appointment as a Knight appeared to be based not on objective merit of the honour, but rather on the whims and bribes of King George I. The same image appears in the 1843 Krabbe edition.
Image Creator: Grandville (Illustrator)
Type: StillImage; Book Illustrations
Identifier: mta:20831
Language: ger
Source Name: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekkant Lander
Parent Collection: 1839 Stuttgart Grandville vol. 1; 1839 Stuttgart Grandville vol. 1
Image: mta_20831_OBJ.png
Collection: Gulliver's Travels
Subject: Lilliput (Imaginary place); imaginary places; fictional works; imaginary creatures; Fictitious characters; emperors in literature; Kings and rulers; satire

Media: mta_20831_OBJ.png