In the feature article of our November issue, 'The Other Cheek', Colin Jones and Emily Richardson reveal a little-known collection of obscene and irreverent caricatures targetting Madame de Pompadour from a book of drawings entitled the Livre de caricatures tant Bonnes que mauvaises.

The 'Book of Caricatures both Good and Bad' was composed over almost 30 years from the 1740s to the 1770s. The man responsible for them was Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin, who was, from the 1740s, embroidery designer at the royal court.

Click on the image above to beging the slideshow.

- Listen to Colin Jones speaking about the caricatures on the History Today podcast