OUDRY, Jean-Baptiste
(b. 1686, Paris, d. 1755, Beauvais)

Hot Cockles (La Main Chaude)

1728
Black and white chalk
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

This drawing is part of the design for a tapestry cycle on the theme of "Amusements champêtres."

Hot Cockles ("la main chaude") is a game in which sleight of hand and close attention are rewarded. One player, the "penitent," hides his face in the lap of a second (called the "confessor," a referee who monitors the game) and places his hand flat behind his back. In turn, other players slap the penitent on the hand, and he tries to identify who hit him. The player who lets himself be discovered becomes the penitent.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.