Joker Head Shots

These jokers are just the heads with no body or hands. In some cases, just the hat. Note that the clown head jokers  as distinct from joker or people head, now have their own section.

Clownhead - as I call this next joker - is an Arrrco joker out of Chicago.

In some, the head has gone missing and there's just a hat. But I left them in this section. Soon, they’ll have their own section.

I'll mention at this mid point in the post that the joker category of "Busts or Heads" has four subcategories.

 

 And each of these subcategories now has its own post:

• Jesters on a Stick - Yes, these are jokers of jokers wands. Weird, huh?
• Heads Only (no hands). This Post.  Just heads. No hands.
• Heads with Hands but NO Wands.  
• Heads with Hands Holding a Wand.

Here are some exotic heads... 

The next three pages are Aug 2021 updates with maybe some overlap with others.

Notice anything special about the jester heads below? I’ll give you a hint, focus on the top row. If you can’t figure it out, I’ll explain it below the picture.

Reversed! Got it yet? Look at the top row above, middle joker, the top of the hat. It falls to the left whereas all the others fall to the right!!! Incredible,,right?

The top row of jokers are from a contemporary Bicycle deck called Arch Angels.

Just hats.

I'll end this post by reviewing that the joker category of "Busts or Heads" has four subcategories.

 

 And each of these subcategories now has its own post:

• Jesters on a Stick - Yes, there are jokers of jokers wands. Weird, huh?
• Heads Only (no hands). This Post. There are about 150 of them today.
• Heads with Hands but NO Wands.  About 67. 
• Heads with Hands Holding a Wand.

 There are admittedly head shots which don't end up in this section. For examples, there's masks, art, dogs and cats, horses, cartoon characters, topsy turvy, and clowns,  Want to better understand the categories, check out the Joker Taxonomy Article which reveals ALL.

Busts with Hands But NO Jesters Wands

This article from March 2020 has been updated here: the new joker head and hands but no wands article

-----

These jesters are just the bust or top half of the body. More technically, the hands are shown AND they are NOT holding a jesters wand. If they were, they'd be in the section called juster busts holding a jesters wand.  

The first one is making that we-have-a-secret finger gesture. He tried winking but it didn't look right in a still shotl

Can anybody notice the problem in this next set of nine? First one to get it right in the comments can get a free set of five duplicates of mine sent their way.

The bottom joker in the picture above - the nose itch guy - is by Bernard Dondorf from Frankfurt, Germany. They were used from ca.1895 until 1933. Here's Joops page about him and his kind.  I have two variations now. Joop explains: "NASM stands for Nederlandsch Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (Dutch American Steamship Company), which later became the Holland Amerika Lijn, better known now as HAL." He is on the Joker Poster in the 3G position

I'll end this post by reviewing that the joker category of "Busts or Heads" has four subcategories.

 

 And that each of these subcategories now has its own post:

• Jesters on a Stick - Yes, there are jokers of jokers wands. Weird, huh?
• Heads Only (no hands).
• Heads with Hands but NO Wands. This post. 
• Heads with Hands Holding a Wand.

Busts with Jester Wands

The jokers below are in the heads and busts category (ie, they have no legs). 

The subcategory is that they have arms and are holding a jesters wand. I seem have about 70 of them.

This first joker is a classic from Piatnik of Austria.   

A Jesters Wand is also known as a Bauble or a Jesters Stick. Are there other names?

I'm not sure who this lady is but I like her.

A fierce jester with a matching fierce jester bauble. Could he be a fake?

What a sweet looking jester lady. Another fake? 

sweet jester lady

 This jester is making a gesture which suggests a shared secret and that it is understood that it will not be disclosed. One website says that laying the finger aside the nose:  "represents the equivalent of a secret wink -  'Let's keep it between the two of us'"

A finger aside the nose

This gleeful fellow shows an inner joy reflected to / from his bauble's smug face.

 

This next one is confusing. Is that Burt Reynolds? And why would he be wearing that odd head dress?

 

Here's how the jokers are currently (March 2020) laid out by page.

The middle row on the left is a small publisher called PR-Print per Alexander Sukhorukow of the Joker Web Museum.

Six of the nine on this page are women. Two have mustaches (not two of the women).

The next two pages are an update 5-2-2021

Here’s one more. It’s a shadow puppet character from dramatisations of the epic Mahabharata in the traditional puppet theatre Wayang in Java, Indonesia. 

Jesters on a Stick (ie the jesters wand is the focal point of the joker).

A Head But No Hands -  

A Bust (legless) with Hands but No Jesters Wand  -  

A Bust (legless) Holding a Jesters Wand  - This article

Lastly, click to see an Overview of My Joker Taxonomy.