where did the saying not a po emptied nor a whore painted and spaniards in the parlour?

Answer 1

I've could not find this phrase in a Shakespearean work.

The words "painted whore" tell me the phrase was most likely used as a critique about something, be it a play or a movie. (For sure there were many pots in chambers and Spaniards lurking about in Renaissance works.)

(On the Renaissance stage the painted face functioned as a theatrical symbol as described in the 1994 book, "Painted Faces on the Renaissance Stage: The Moral Significance of Face" by Annette Drew-Bear.)

If you do find the line and where it originated, I hope you'll email it to me!

Answer 2

Sir Richard Grenville, in 1588, to his wife Lady Grenville, on her shortcomings as a housekeeper and her tastes in art.

Answer 3

If it's not the skarlet pimpernel then i would say Shakespear,Othello had something to do with the Spanish i think.Diffo.