Mirrors for Princes - Crooked Billet

Friday 21st May 2021 to
Saturday 12th June 2021

Mirrors for Princes - Crooked Billet

Mirrors for Princes (2019) is a series of traditional pub style mirrors created by Ruth Ewan with sign writer Artisan Artworks that will be hosted by pubs along the Essex coastline of the estuary.

The mirrors feature texts channelling the ancient call for social equality and justice and will be accompanied by an edition of slogan beer mats. The English expression ‘mirrors for princes’ refers to an ancient literary genre that outlined the basic principles of moral conduct for rulers.

The quotes featured on Mirrors for Princes are derived from writings, texts and speeches by sources including the fourteenth-century radical itinerant priest John Ball (c.1338–1381), eighteenth-century proto-feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), and the nineteenth-century French anarcho-feminist Louise Michel (1830–1905).

John Ball was a key figure in The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, which was caused, among other things, by a rise in taxes (needed to finance the Hundred Years’ War against France). Sparked by the villagers in the Essex estuarine village of Fobbing, the rebels from across the southeast of England demanded a reduction of taxes, the end of serfdom and the resignation of the king’s chief advisers. Over time, this uprising has become a key moment in British history.

Mirrors for Princes are located in five South Essex pubs - The White Lion in Fobbing, The Worlds End in Tilbury, The Crooked Billet in Old Leigh and The Lobster Smack on Canvey. The Barge Gladys has Mirrors for Princes beer mats only. 

When

Friday 21st May 2021 to
Saturday 12th June 2021

Where

51 High St, Leigh-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea, Leigh-on-Sea
SS9 2EP

Travel

Nearest railway station Leigh-on-Sea (C2C).

Website

Link

Previous Mirrors for Princes - The White Lion
Watermark - The Sportsman, Seasalter

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