Deception Collection

Carbolic Smoke Ball / 1893
Advertisement for The Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. which claimed to offer a cure for a wide variety of ailments. This led to a court case on grounds of deception & a landmark ruling

Operation Mincemeat - naval ID card of Major Martin
Fake naval identity card of Major William Martin. His body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943 carrying sensitive documents

Illicit / Cuckold 1840
The hunter and his horns

Operation Mincemeat - site of grave of Major Martin
Site of the grave of Major William Martin in the Nuestra Senora cemetery in Huelva, Spain, whose body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943

Operation Mincemeat - gravestone of Major Martin
Gravestone of Major William Martin in the Nuestra Senora cemetery in Huelva, Spain, whose body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943

Bonzo palms the pill by George Studdy
Bonzo palms the pill -- he is given a pill, but only pretends to take it. George Ernest Studdy (1878-1948), was the creator of Bonzo

Stanislawa P
Polish psychic Stanislawa P. produces ectoplasm at Munchen in the presence of Schrenck- Notzing; in 1930 Osty accused her of systematic deception

Reynard the Fox 1572
Reynard the Fox, also known as Reynke de Vos and Reineke Fuchs, playing a trick on an unsuspecting cockerel

Thomas Rowlandson, The Honeymoon - When the old fool has drunk his wine, and gone to rest - I will be thine. circa 1816

Camouflage
This painting shows a large war ship in dazzle camouflage, used as a form of deception for enemy aircraft, mainly during WW1, not necessarily to conceal

Camouflaged Ship
This painting shows a large war ship in dazzle camouflage, used as a form of deception for enemy aircraft, mainly during WW1, not necessarily to conceal

Corpse Deception World War Two 1943 Operation
corpse, deception, world, war, two, 1943, operation, mincemeat, body, major, william, martin, second, wwii, ww2, death, dead, hoax, british, intelligence, glyndwr, michael, the, of, and, a, to, in

The Taking of Zutphen, Siege of Zutphen (present day Gelderland, Netherlands), 19-30 May 1591, part of the Eighty Years War (1568-1648) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604)

Comic postcard, Man and woman with typewriter in an office Date: 20th century

Comic postcard, council worker Date: 20th century

English gentleman consulting a somniloquist, 18th century
English gentleman consulting a somniloquist in his chambers, 18th century. The sleeping fortune teller lies in a bed in a room decorated with crocodile skin, Egyptian figures and incense burners

A lustful monk Lucius tricks and seduces a young girl
A lustful monk Lucius tricks and seduces a young virginal peasant girl in his cave. The hermit. L Ermite. Lithograph after an illustration by Charles Martin from Jean de la Fontaines Contes et

Naked woman clutching coins in her hands. The miser Gasparins wife seduced for money by Gulphar, only to lose the cash. A Money-Minded Woman Meets Her Match. A femme avare galant escroc

Maid in stockings and garters embraced by a man. Maidservant assaulted by her upholsterer employer. The vindicated servant girl. Le servante justifiee. After Marguerite de Navarres l Heptameron

Cartoon, The Political Cheap-Jack -- Benjamin Disraeli, portrayed as a conman at a country fair, wooing his Buckinghamshire constituents during the General Election campaign, summer 1847. 1847

Cartoon, Brothers in Distress, Bishop v. Maskelyne and Labouchere. They were accused of defaming an American stage mentalist, Washington Irving Bishop

Charlatan speaking to group of people in Rome, Italy
A charlatan, probably a quack doctor, speaking to a group of people in a street in Rome, Italy. Date: early 19th century

Hiding Cupids Message - a woman hides a billet doux under some plants in a greenhouse

A False Wife, by F Marriott Watson, Opera House, Torquay
A False Wife, by F Marriott Watson, at the Opera House, Torquay. 1908

Food adulteration, 1845
London improvements : adulteration of food in 1845. Sand is added to sugar, milk is watered down, bone dust and plaster of paris is added to dough and Vitriol is mixed into gin. Date: 1845

Operation Mincemeat - photograph of girlfriend
Photograph of " Pam", the supposed girlfriend of Major Martin whose body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943 in an elaborate

Telegram excuse sent by husband to disguise affair
Telegram excuse sent by an older man to his wife to disguise the affair he is having with his young Secretary. Date: 1909

Initiation of the Knight Kadosh
Taking the left hand of the blindfolded candidate and placing it on the beating body of a sheep, the deceived candidate is then expected to plunge a knife into what he believes is the body of a

Dummy heads rising above the side of a trench, WW1
Four dummy heads of British soldiers rising above the side of a trench during the First World War, to deceive potential snipers. Date: 1914-1918

Dummy injured soldier used during training, WW1
A dummy injured soldier used during training at Camouflage School, Kensington Gardens, during the First World War. The Germans would dress up a dummy in captured khaki to look like a British soldier

Operation Mincemeat - body of Major William Martin
Corpse of the supposed Major William Martin. His body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943 carrying sensitive documents

Comic postcard, Underground Movement Date: 20th century

Lappet Moth - on tree-bark - has its wings and antennae in folded position that makes it looks like a small twig. Bohol, Philippines. February. Gastropacha sp. probably pardale

Operation Mincemeat - possessions of Major Martin
Personal possessions of Major William Martin, found when his body was washed ashore in Spain on 30th April 1943 carrying sensitive documents

Cartoon, Forever Young - Appearances Deceive - Theatre Makeup. early 19th century

Scene from Molieres play, Amphitryon, first performed in 1668. It was based on a Latin comedy by Plautus. In it, Amphitryon goes off to war, leaving his wife Alcmene at home

Shakespeare - Twelfth Night - Malvolio: I extend my hand to him thus. circa 1830

Don Juan and his man Leporello, probably a scene from Mozarts opera, Don Giovanni, outside Elviras house, during which they exchange clothes for purposes of deception. 1821

The Biscayan feigned (El Vizcaino fingido). Short farce by C
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Spanish writer. Short farce The Biscayan feigned (El Vizcaino fingido). Colored engraving. 1868. Private collection

El Vizcaino fingido. Short farce by Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Spanish writer. Short farce The Biscayan feigned (El Vizcaino fingido). Engraving. 1868. Private collection

Cartoon, Peace, WW1
Cartoon, Peace. An allegorical female figure, Peace, holding the flags of the Allied nations, looks down at Kaiser Wilhelm kneeling in front of her and rejects his deceptive offer. Date: 1917

Cartoon, Ententes Reply, WW1
Cartoon, Ententes Reply. An allegorical female figure, representing Entente (Agreement), responds to the German peace suggestion by sitting on it/him. Date: 1917

Cartoon, The trap, WW1
Cartoon, The trap. Kaiser Wilhelm and Crown Prince Wilhelm find that their trap labelled Peace has not caught any enemy soldiers, even though it was well prepared. Date: 1917

Caricature of The Two Willings, senior and junior. James Willing was actually a pseudonym for John Thomas Douglass (1842-1917), manager of the Standard Theatre, Shoreditch, London

Caricature of Mrs Fletcher and Mrs Hart-Davies
Caricature of Susan Willis Fletcher, spiritualist, and Mrs Juliette Hart-Davies, her victim. Fletcher was convicted of obtaining jewellery by deception from Mrs Hart-Davies. 1881

Paranormal: William S. Marriott exposes seance hand control
The British magician William S. Marriott shows how hand control can be evaded during a s顮 ce. Date: 1910

Robot arrested at a theatre in Pavia, Italy
A robot is arrested at a theatre in Pavia, Italy, on suspicion of being a fake ! Date: 1935

Nicholas Hart, the Great Sleeper
Nicholas Hart, known as the Great Sleeper, who slept from 5 to 11 August 1711, though he was suspected of shamming with a view to earning money. Date: 1711

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