CLEMENT PIERRE MARILLIER, French, 1740-1808
The Mufti and the Circassian
in Claude Joseph Dorat’s Fables Nouvelles, Paris, 1773;
engraving, 1772
Lent by UNC-CH's Rare Book Collection

This decorative headpiece to Fable XII, “The Slippers of a Lady and a Mufti,” is an example of the sexual libertinage associated with the Orient during the eighteenth century.  According to Western thought, the Orient lent itself to licentious behavior through its exoticism, hot climate, and non-Christian beliefs.  By including an Islamic presence, Dorat and Marillier link exoticism and eroticism.  The Mufti, an interpreter of Islamic law, is clearly associated with the erotic in Dorat’s text and Marillier’s engraving.   

The poem illustrated here is a clever dialogue between a woman’s delicate slipper and a Mufti’s more imposing one.  The two slippers express surprise at seeming vaguely familiar to each other.  As they converse, it becomes clear that their former owners met frequently in amorous affairs. Marillier highlights the exoticism and eroticism of the Mufti by placing him and his lover provocatively on a sofa.  At the official’s feet are his hat, pipe, and slippers, respectively indicating his career, trade with the Orient, and his sexuality through the insinuation of a hastily discarded shoe.