eunuch archive

showcasing art, literature and research related to (court) eunuchs

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

From the Clyde and Annie Matters Collection
Link: https://t.co/64JqIot8SF

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Bronze figure of a Court Eunuch, possibly 16th Century, Kingdom of Benin

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

From the British Museum: https://t.co/pT40gSYeEZ

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Book cover with painted illustrations of harem scenes on both sides, lacquered on papier mâché.

Qajar Iran, early 19th Century

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Photo credit: President and Fellows of Harvard College
From the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Edwin Binney, 3rd Collection of Turkish Art at the Harvard Art Museums
Call number: 1985.248
Persistent link: https://t.co/dVQp1hXHj5

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Portrait of a Eunuch Standing in a Landscape, Holding a Sprig of Flowers 🌷 18th Century, Ottoman period, folio from an album

opaque watercolor on paper

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From the Met Collection: https://t.co/AG2tLkDtIW

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Photograph of Qajar eunuchs, Possibly by Luigi Pesce, 1850s, "In the Mosque of the Damegan/The Eunuchs"
The eunuchs are wearing astrakhan hats 🐏

Albumen silver print from paper negative

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

French print depiction of a eunuch from Cairo, from the collection "Costumes Moderne (Musée de Costumes)" published by Ancienne Maison Aubert in 1850.

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Byzantine depiction of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip the Deacon, illumination in the Menologion of Basil II (976-1025) by the artist Nestor

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

This painting was sold at a Christie's auction in April 2013, as part of the Saeed Motamed Collection.

Media and information from Christie's: https://t.co/4yvIqSUgTG

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Portrait of Khawas Khan, eunuch of Bahadur Shah, late 17th Century 🌿🌷"Khawas Khan, the eunuch of Bahadur Shah, previously had the name Ma'ruf, at the Court of Bahadur at the time the Prince was the sawba-dar of Kabul."

Opaque pigments and gold on paper

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Original: Khawas khan khwaja sara-ye bahadur shahi keh sabeq ma'ruf nam dasht vaqtikeh ba padshahzadeh bahadur shah sawbeh-dar-e kabul budand pish amadeh bud

There are identification inscriptions in both nasta'liq and devanagari, on the upper margins and the reverse respectively

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

The first painting is from a Bonhams auction held in 2025 (lot 191), now sold.

The second painting is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS.10-1955).

A similar portrait of Neknam Khan was auctioned by Christie's on 12 June 2018 (lot 10), but it is unavailable on their website.

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Two miniature portraits of Neknam Khan, eunuch sipahsalar to Abdullah Qutb Shah, both dated c. 1690-1700 and made in the Deccan (probably Golconda) ☁️

Both watercolor, with gold leaf added in the first

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Here is a travel photo from 2014 with different figures

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

Wax figures of a black eunuch in the restored Karaağalar Ward of Topkapı Palace 🌺

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

From the Visual Arts Legacy Collection
https://t.co/iYbcZilKn3
https://t.co/wA9T0TNN1p

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Two polychrome clay statues of Chinese eunuchs 🪲🌷 Holy Mother Hall, Jin Shrine, Taiyuan
Northern Song Dynasty

[eunuch archive @eunuchboys]

“The Hideous Trade” by Jan Hogendorn provides good information on this topic, as well as elaboration on the economic reasoning behind the location of castration operations