John Keiling (alias Blind Jack)

Artist Robert Grave (British, 1731 – 1802)

Dateno date

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsHEIGHT: 12 × 9 1/2 in. (30.5 × 24.1 cm)

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineTibbals Circus Collection

Object numberht8000442

Printed in James Caulfield’s 1794 volume Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters of Remarkable Persons, this image of John Keiling, known as Blind Jack, originally dates to around 1700. Keiling was included in the volume as an example of a type of pauper or vagabond whose actions were deemed disgusting and inappropriate for the streets of London. The accompanying handwritten text describes Keiling’s specific offense as being his gimmick of playing the flageolet, or small flute, with his nostril. Despite the judgmental tone of the description, Caulfield’s publication was intended to celebrate and record the diversity of the English population, calling attention to individuals “who have essentially differed from the rest of the human race” and who “overleap the boundaries of the conventional life.”

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