In honour of the animal's heroic efforts, here are some favourite little donkeys from our collection.
Little donkeys aren’t just for Christmas
Words by Helen Babbs
- In pictures
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Donkey domestication is thought to have begun about 5,000 years ago in Africa. Since then, they've enabled us to carry larger loads over longer distances. This photograph shows the Nankow Pass in China. Sure-footed and sturdy, donkeys helped tradespeople negotiate the rough, rocky terrain.
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Donkeys can carry people as well as packages, and sometimes they carry deities too. Sitala is the Indian goddess of smallpox and other epidemics. She's always pictured sitting on a donkey, with a broom in one hand and a pot of water in the other.
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Donkeys can also power carts and carriages. This donkey-pulled pram has room for 18 toddlers. It's another precious load to be entrusted with, but a heavy one.
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The donkey has become a symbol as much as a mode of transport. When we say someone's behaving like a donkey or an ass, we're implying they're lazy, stupid or ignorant, or all three! Here a young boy shaves a donkey, likely poking fun at the intelligence levels of barber-surgeons and their customers. Graphic satire was often used to mock the medical profession, and its quacks and quackeries, from the 17th century on.
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Meanwhile the reluctant little donkey that appears inside this symbolical head is used to represent "firmness". The head contains over 30 images showing the phrenological faculties.
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Everything is topsy-turvy in the world of our final little donkey. A horse forcibly feeds straw to a man, people eat grass while sheep-shaped shepherds look on, and, in an especially refreshing reversal of roles, a donkey rides on a man's back.
About the author
Helen Babbs
Helen is a Digital Editor for Wellcome Collection.