Item #1: Thai politics

No, it’s not. It’s “The Sweet-talking Monkey before a Large Swans and Ducks’ Audience”, a watercolour by Alexis Peyrotte (1699-1769) and currently for sale at Sotheby’s Paris for about 5,000 euros.

I hasten to add that I am in no way trying to imply that that’s a royal parasol. Just put any Thai politician you wish under the umbrella, though, and it’s a near-perfect likeness of modern Siam.

Peyrotte was by title Painter to the King and Designer of Furniture for the Crown, basically in charge of the interior decor at Versailles. How he got away with this picture is anyone’s guess. But his flora-and-fauna-intensive paintings did find their way into the London home of Europe’s wealthiest family, the Rothschilds.

Item #2: The American presidential election

Don’t be silly. It’s part of an engraving by Theodorus de Bry of Liège (1528-98), who travelled a great deal around Europe but never laid foot in America. He made this from a watercolour by John White, who actually lived in Virginia colony among the natives he depicted, albeit not particularly well. Sotheby’s New York is selling this one for perhaps $50,000.

I really should keep this stuff for my art blog, Dali House.