Koo, Koo, or Actor-Boy
This lithograph shows a man who is lifting a mask to show his face. He wears an elaborate carnival costume or dress, while holding a fan. Belisario explained how actors "were literate street performers who recited passages from, for example, Shakespeare plays and engaged in pantomime. They content themselves annually with the public exhibition of their finery, and station themselves in a busy area of Kingston where gentlemen who may be passing are requested to decide which is the smartest dressed, presumably by tipping them." Isaac Mendes Belisario (1795–1849) was a Jamaican artist of Jewish descent and active in Kingston Jamaica around British emancipation in 1833. The image shown here, as well as others of “John-Canoes,” was drawn from life by Belisario in 1836. This lithograph is one of twelve originally published in three parts, four plates at a time. See also image Belisario05.
Image Title
Koo, Koo, or Actor-Boy
RegID
SI-OB-912
Date
1838
Title
Koo, Koo, or Actor-Boy
Source
Isaac Mendes Belisario, Sketches of character, in illustration of the habits, occupation, and costume of the Negro population, in the island of Jamaica: drawn after nature, and in lithography (Kingston, Jamaica: published by the artist, at his residence, 1837-1838).
Language
English
Item sets
Music, Dance & Recreational Activities
Spatial Coverage
Caribbean--Jamaica--Kingston
Researchers
Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
13-May-16; 3-Sep-19
Identifier
Belisario03