[Lilliputian nobles play a game while Gulliver watches] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [Lilliputian nobles play a game while Gulliver watches]
Subject: emperors in literature; rituals; Kings and rulers; fictional works; Fictitious characters; imaginary places; imaginary creatures; Lilliput (Imaginary place); satire
Period: 1850-1900;
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 both the 1839 and 1843 Krabbe editions.
Image Creator: Grandville (Illustrator)
Type: StillImage; Vignettes
Identifier: mta:21336
Language: ger
Source Name: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekannte Länder
Parent Collection: 1870 Stuttgart Grandville
Image: mta_21336_OBJ.png