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Paris Sous La Commune

Print
1870-1871 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Unknown (caricaturist)
Moronval, J. (printer)
Place of origin
Paris (printed)

Satirical print in which a proletariat woman holds a bottle of petrol and a flaming torch.
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
Caricatures & Cartoons
Prints
Object type
Print
Titles
  • Paris Sous La Commune (series title)
  • Une Petroleuse (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured wood-engraving on paper
Paper
Wood-Engraving
Hand-Colouring
Brief description
'Une Petroleuse'. Satirical illustration in which a proletariat woman holds a bottle of petrol and a flaming torch. Hand-coloured wood-engraving, France, 1870-1871.
Physical description
Satirical print in which a proletariat woman holds a bottle of petrol and a flaming torch.
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: 31.1cm
  • Width: 18.4cm
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
  • 'PARIS SOUS LA COMMUNE' (Series title, lettered above design)
  • 'UNE PETROLEUSE' (Title, lettered below design)
  • 'Ah! si son homme la voyait' (Lettered below title)
  • 'Dépôt central de l'Imagerie populaire, 65, Rue Galande, 65. Propriété de l'Éditeur. (Déposé.) Paris, -Imp. J. Moronval' (Lettered outside design)
  • 'Mord o prucien / manger de chandel / Petrol' (Lettered within design)
Gallery label
Anonymous Bands of women and children were rumoured to be creeping around Paris throwing fireballs and bottles of petrol into the basement windows of the bourgeoisie, in a systematic attempt organized by the International to destroy the capital. Although this legend has never been verified, at the time it caught the imagination of the terrified Parisians. Any woman seen carrying a bottle was immediately suspect and many innocent as well as guilty women were shot as 'pétroleuses'. Wood-engraving, coloured by hand. From a series of at least 12. E.1425-1962(27/05/1971-10/10/1971)
Object history
Provenance unknown.
Plate from a series of at least 12 prints entitled PARIS SOUS LA COMMUNE.
Subjects depicted
Hat
Torches (Lighting Devices)
Woman
Gasoline
Bottle
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
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1425-1962

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Record createdFebruary 12, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O187608/paris-sous-la-commune-print-unknown/
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