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Monsieur Pipelet

Print
1870-1871 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Satirical print in which Napoleon III is depicted as Monsieur Pipelet, wearing attire of red, white and blue, holding a broom and feather duster. Print from a set of caricatures, broadsheets and illustrations in ten volumes. Each volume is half-bound in red leather, gold tooled and stamped with imperial emblems, title etc.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMonsieur Pipelet (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured lithograph on paper
Brief description
'Monsieur Pipelet'. Satirical illustration by Faustin Betbeder in which the Emperor Napoleon is depicted as Monsieur Pipelet, holding a broom and feather duster. Hand-coloured lithograph, France, 1870-1871.
Physical description
Satirical print in which Napoleon III is depicted as Monsieur Pipelet, wearing attire of red, white and blue, holding a broom and feather duster. Print from a set of caricatures, broadsheets and illustrations in ten volumes. Each volume is half-bound in red leather, gold tooled and stamped with imperial emblems, title etc.
Dimensions
  • Height: 28.3cm
  • Width: 15.9cm
Dimensions from: Lambert, Susan. The Franco-Prussian War and The Commune in Caricature 1870-71. catalogue of a collection of prints in the possession of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1971.
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Monsieur Pipelet en vente chez Strauss, r. d. Croissant. 7. / Imp. Coulboeuf, Paris ...Dire qu'il n'y a plus que ces bêtes la qui m'aiment...moi aussi je les ai bien aimées, & il ne me reste plus qu'un vieux plumeau maintenant...' (Lettered)
  • 'Faustin' (Signed)
  • ÉTAIT NÉ POUR LES CORDONS (Lettered within design.)
Gallery label
"Faustin" (pseudonym of Faustin Betbeder) (born 1847) The ex-Emperor and Empress are represented as Monsieur and Madame Pipelet, the door-keepers in Eugène Sue's novel Mystères de Paris, whose name has since been adopted for concierges in general. The caricature of Eugénie plays on the similarity between the words 'cour' a court or courtyard and 'coeur', heart. That of Napoleon plays on the double meaning of the word 'plumeau', either a feather duster or an old has-been. Lithographs, coloured by hand. E.411, 412-1962(27/05/1971-10/10/1971)
Historical context
In this set the ex-Emperor and Empress are represented as Monsieur and Madame Pipelet, the door-keepers in Eugène Sue's novel Mystères de Paris, whose name has since been adopted for concierges in general. The caricature of Eugénie plays on the similarity between the words cour a court or courtyard and Coeur, heart. That of Napoleon plays on the double meaning of the word plumeau, either a feather duster or an old has-been.
Subjects depicted
Literary reference<i>Mystères de Paris</i>, a novel by Eugène Sue.
Associated object
Bibliographic references
  • Lambert, Susan, The Franco-Prussian War and The Commune in Caricature 1870-71: catalogue of a collection of prints in the possession of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, V&A, 1971
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1962. London: HMSO, 1964.
Collection
Accession number
E.412-1962

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Record createdFebruary 4, 2009
Record URL
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