Sex Arts

Fashion: First brassieres
It all depends what you mean ... In various parts of ancient Greece the brassiere, in one form or other, was employed; paradoxically, in view of the free attitudes towards mixed nudity, naked athletics and the like, brassieres have been associated with the ancient inhabitants of Sparta. They were also used in China and elsewhere. The now almost extinct ancient Chinese brassiere has been likened to a small apron, introduced by Yang Kwei-fei, a concubine of Emperor Hsuan Tsung of T'amg in the eighth century. In fact the charming creature only decided on the creation of a "brassiere" to cover bites made by an "illegitimate" lover.

First topless dresses
The topless dress fashion of a few years ago may have seemed like a new thing. It wasn't. In fact an early purpose of the corset was to show as much of the breast as possible. As early as 1388, Johann de Mussi, a Lombard author, wrote "Women show their breasts and it looks as if their breasts would wish to jump from their bosom". And he adds, reflectively, "Which gown would be beautiful if it did not show the breasts?" The beautiful Agnes Sorel (1409-1450) was said to display her shoulders and breasts, including the nipples. The early Christian Church termed the laced openings to women's bodices "the gates of hell". By the fifteenth century much of the breast was again being shown; and in James l's time young unmarried women displayed the whole of their breasts. John Hill, a sixteenth-century poet comments "That women theyr breastes dyd shew & lay out." But the early Anglo-Saxons were predated by centuries in the use of topless fashions. In various Mediterranean lands of antiquity the exposed breast was a commonplace - female enhancement.

Earliest depicted human coital positions
According to L. Legrain in "Ur Excavations, Vol. III: Archaic Seal Impressions" (1936), the oldest known depiction of human coitus, in the Ur excavations in Mesopotamia , dates to between 3200 and 3000 B.C. But much older than this are the representations of coital activity on the walls of the Grotte des Combarelles in the Dordogne in France . One particular drawing is thought to date from the Aurignacian period of the late Old Stone Age, about 40,000. If there are more ancient depictions than this we do not know of them.

What do we know of the first positions shown for coital activity?
In the most ancient drawing, the one in the Dordogne , the woman is shown crouching forward while the man approaches her from behind. According to Havelock Ellis the oldest picture of human coitus that we have - of the Palaeolithic Solutrian age - shows the man as supine while the woman squats (in fact the Solutrian, or Solutrean age, ante-dates the Aurignacian). One prehistoric rock drawing, this time from Bohusian in Sweden , shows two couples standing up and copulating. And the seals from Ur of the Chaldees (around 3000 B.C.) have the copulating pair with the woman on top of the man. Kinsey et al have pointed out that the position with the woman above is common in ancient art, e.g. that of Peru , India , China , Japan and other civilizations. Perhaps the most famous of all the palaeolithic sexual depictions are those to be found in the Les Trois Freres cavern: a human figure, wearing an animal skin and antlers, is crouching, his genitals clearly shown (this drawing has often been cited as evidence of early witchcraft). Elsewhere in Trois Freres is an ithyphallic bison with human legs. And half-human, half-animal depictions are shown to suggest sexual mounting. A bone engraving from the Abri Murat ( Lot ) is based on the same theme. And in Pech Merle there is a finger drawing in clay of a woman "crouched in a sexually receptive posture beneath animal-like lines". (See P. Rawson, " "Primitive Erotic Art").

First Chinese erotic jade and ivory

Ming Dynasty Chinese jade.

Erotic carvings gradually appeared in Chinese jade and ivory. An eye-witness in the Ming Dynasty described such things from the Ming Palace "The two Happy Buddhas were carved out of two huge pieces of flawless jade. With their sex organs in close contact they gave the viewers the basic concept of the man woman relationship. The eunuch in charge told me that these jade figures were actually left behind in the palace by the Mongols after their downfall. He also said that they had been used by the Mongol imperial family to enlighten their descendants about the facts of life. It is believed that after our empire had been established, these figures continued to be used for the same purpose during the reign of our first few emperors. However, I cannot help congratulating myself secretly for having the good luck to see these finished products of artistic perfection."

First Italian Renaissance painter of erotic art
Antonio Pisanello (c. 1395-c. 1455) has been taken as one of the first Italian artists to see in the nude form the wide scope for erotic art. He produced copies of the Bacchic Sarcophagi in the Campo Santo collection of antique art in Pisa , and then added to some of these an erotic component, for instance he drew the legs of a young girl to suggest "uninhibited delight in sexuality."

Erotic clothes and positions

First ancient underwear

Fashion… It is a very interesting and many-sided question. When we speak about clothes first of all we think about underwear. For women brassiere is on the first place. According to the history, first brassieres were found in different parts of ancient Greece and Sparta . In China they were also used. If you compare the first ancient Chinese brassiere with the modern one you can observe that it was something like small apron. It was introduced in eighth century. In that time women used body-cloth only to cover the bites which were made by a passionate admirer.

First topless dresses
If you think that some years ago it was the first time when appeared the topless dresses you are wrong. You remember corsets. It is said that women used them to show their breasts as much as possible. Sometimes it was looked like wish not to put on this dress at all. But there was some tendency between women: if they can’t show their breasts this dress won’t be so beautiful. Later the early Christian Church advised to use the laced openings to women's bodices. By the fifteenth century this taboo was declined and women again showed their breasts as they want. The young unmarried girls showed the whole bosom.

Pictures of human sexual coitus
The earliest date of depiction of human sexual activity and coitus in the Ur excavations in Mesopotamia is between 3200 and 3000 B.C. But the pictures of coital activity on the walls of the Grotte des Combarelles in the Dordogne in France are older than the previous ones. Also, there is one more old depiction of the human coital positions; it is dated in the Aurignacian period of the late Old Stone Age, about 40,000.

First positions of human coitus
Do you know what was depicted on the most ancient picture of human coitus? It was the woman crouching forward and the man tried to come to her behind. According to another survey the oldest coital position shows the man lying on the ground while the woman squats. Another picture depicts two couples standing up and copulating. Also, there are depictions of different civilizations: Japanese, Chinese and Indian. It is known that the most famous of all the palaeolithic sexual depictions is a human figure, wearing an animal skin and antlers, is crouching, his genitals clearly shown. Also, are shown the half-animal and half-human coital positions.

First Chinese erotic jade and ivory
The first erotic carving appeared in Chinese jade and ivory. It appeared in the history of Ming Dynasty.It was described like two Happy Buddhas were carved out of a huge piece of flawless jade. Observing their sex organs we can exactly imagine the man woman relationship. Also, they were used by the Mongol imperial family to inform their descendants about the facts of life.