12th Night Mask Character

12th Night Swap

In the 18th Century, it was traditional to celebrate 12th Night (January 6th), which is the last day of Christmas, it being the Epiphany, with a masked ball on the evening of the 5th. Lady Elizabeth upholds this tradition, wishing to begin the New Year on a happy note, inviting all her closest friends. But, this is not just any masked ball, the guests are assigned characters, and on the night, they become those characters. At many of these masked balls, the hostess will send out a 12th night invitation with a caricature depicted on a separate card and the recipient must come dressed as that character, alternatively characters may be chosen at the ball. The cards show all manner of silly people, such as “Sir Drinks A-lot” or “Lady Tittle-tattle” This, of course, leads to much merriment and mischief, but at Lady Elizabeth’s ball, she asks her guests to create their own characters, and dress as those personae, so the evening is more spontaneous, which has proven to be vastly entertaining, her guests all looking forward to the 12th Night Mask, and those hearing of it contriving ways of procuring an invitation.

Your Invitation:

The Pleasure of Your Company is Requested at a 12th Night Masked Ball. Hosted by Lady Elizabeth and Sir Charles Marlowe of Carlyle House On the evening of 5th January at 7 of the clock in the evening.

We ask each of you to create a fictitious character, one who is sure to delight the party. Sir Charles and I will, as usual, be awarding a prize to the most ridiculous of these characters.

The Details

For this swap, which is an email swap, we will be creating a card with a character we’ve made up. It can be drawn, painted, or an existing image modified. On the back of the card, a little about the personality of your character should be written. The size of the card should be at least 3 inches by 4 inches and the name of your character should be written under the image. When you have completed your card, email the image to your partner and please send a copy to Anna, for the blog. Email: AnnaM6@aol.com

An example could be: Lady Lofty is a gentlewoman of great worth, at least in her own opinion. Her lineage boasts an Earl and a Duke, never mind they are 16 generations apart from her, she is still related, and happily recounts the generations that link them to her, for any curious party. She and her husband live in a charming little town house, they refer to as “The Estate.” Those who do not know her believe she is well connected, however on closer inspection, they often try to disconnect themselves from her society.

Let’s have fun with this and create an eccentric character. The more outlandish, the more fun this swap will be. On 12th Night, we will have a straw poll to determine the best character and that person will receive a prize.

Here is a link to a blog about the 12th Night celebrations for your information and inspiration:

https://www.gaelenfoley.com/news/twelfth-night-games-merry-making

I hope you will all see the fun in this swap and join in. If you need assistance in creating your 12th character, please feel free to pm me, I would be happy to help.