The Berkley Horse is a

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

apparatus, designed for, and by,

Theresa Berkley Theresa Berkley or Berkeley (died September 1836) was a 19th-century English dominatrix who ran a brothel in Hallam Street, just to the east of Portland Place, Marylebone, London, specialising in flagellation. She is notable as the inventor of th ...

in 1828. She referred to it as a "chevalet". Autumn Stanley, ''Mothers and daughters of invention: notes for a revised history of technology'',

Rutgers University Press Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University. History Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New B ...

, 1995, , pp.585-586 According to the account of

Henry Spencer Ashbee Henry Spencer Ashbee (21 April 1834 – 29 July 1900)(Walter) was a book collector, writer, and bibliographer. He is notable for his massive, clandestine three-volume bibliography of erotic literature published under the pseudonym of Pisanus Fraxi ...

aka "Pisanus Fraxi" 1969, ''Index of Forbidden Books'' (written 1880s as ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''), London: Sphere :A notorious machine was invented for Mrs Berkley to flog gentlemen upon, in the spring of 1828. It is capable of being opened to a considerable extent, so as to bring the body to any angle that might be desirable. There is a print in Mrs Berkley's

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

, representing a man upon it quite naked. A woman is sitting in a chair exactly under it, with her

bosom The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secre ...

, belly, and

bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

exposed: she is manualizing his

embolon A flying wedge (also called flying V or wedge formation, or simply wedge) is a configuration created from a body moving forward in a triangular formation. This V-shaped arrangement began as a successful military strategy in ancient times when inf ...

, whilst Mrs Berkley is

birching Birching is a form of corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders. Implement A birch rod (often shortened to "birch") is a bundle of leafless t ...

his posteriors. He continues: :When the new flogging machine was invented, the designer told her it would bring her into notice, and go by her name after her death; and it did cause her to be talked of, and brought her a great deal of business. ..The original horse is among the models of the Society of Arts at the Adelphi, and was presented by Doctor Vance, her executor. In one surviving letter, a customer hearing about the Berkley Horse proffered Theresa Berkley this pricing for her services: "a pound sterling for the first blood drawn, two pounds sterling if the blood runs down to my heels, three pounds sterling if my heels are bathed in blood, four pounds sterling if the blood reaches the floor, and five pounds sterling if you succeed in making me lose consciousness."Berkley Horse, Leatherpedia.org - The Leather and BDSM encyclopedia The Society of Arts at the Adelphi is now the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

: they took possession of the Horse in 1837, with public exhibition promoted by radical publisher George Cannon. An illustration of the apparatus is reproduced in the original 1880s edition of Ashbee's ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'', but omitted from the 1969 reprint. It is unclear whether the original device was preserved by the

References

External links

''The Flogging Whores of Old London''

''Leatherpedia.org - The Leather and BDSM encyclopedia''
BDSM equipment Spanking

See also

References

Further reading

External links