The Berkley Horse
Mrs Theresa Berkley
Words and handkerchief by Annie Harrison
‘She only moves her hands or her buttocks to the tune of pounds, shillings and pence.’
Theresa Berkley was a famed London flagellant who delivered a plethora of sadomasochist pleasures to her clients by a variety of means in the 18th and 19th centuries. From what we know, we can infer that Berkley loved her profession. She worked in the sex trade for almost 50 years until her death. In the foreword to the c.1810 book Venus School-Mistress, fellow flagellant Mary Wilson wrote that Theresa ‘possessed the first grand requisite of a courtesan, viz. lewdness: [...] she would study every lech, whim, caprice and desire of the customer, and had she the disposition to gratify them, her avarice was rewarded in return.’ Mary also noted that Theresa’s ‘instruments of torture were more numerous than those of any other governess’; she was good at what she did, and pretty obsessed too. Although no images of Theresa remain, her BDSM furniture designs remain in use in suburban dungeons and BDSM discos to this day, the chevalet – or Berkley Horse – being a notable example.
This artwork is part of The Wall of Sexual Heroes, a collaborative textile art piece featured in our previous exhibition at the Horse Hospital (2022) and Bow Arts Lab (2023). All embroidered, printed and appliquėd handkerchiefs celebrate unsung heroes of sexual emancipation, activism and innovation.
The Wall is an organic work. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch with The Keeper.
