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La Clef De La Situation

Print
1871 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Lemaine & Fils (printer)
Betbeder, Faustin (caricaturist)
Place of origin
Paris (printed)

Satirical print depicting Jules Favre, Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès, General Trochu, Jules Ferry (the Mayor of Paris) and Adolphe Thiers dropping an enormous key over the city wall into Count Otto von Bismarck's hands. 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
TitleLa Clef De La Situation (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured lithograph on paper
Paper
Lithography
Hand-Colouring
Brief description
'La Clef De La Situation'. Satirical illustration by Faustin Betbeder depicting Jules Favre, Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès, General Trochu, Jules Ferry (the Mayor of Paris) and Adolphe Thiers dropping an enormous key over the city wall into Count Otto von Bismarck's hands. Hand-coloured lithograph, France, 1870-1871.
Physical description
Satirical print depicting Jules Favre, Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès, General Trochu, Jules Ferry (the Mayor of Paris) and Adolphe Thiers dropping an enormous key over the city wall into Count Otto von Bismarck's hands. 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: 27.9cm
  • Width: 21.3cm
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
  • 'La Clef De La Situation Comment les Prussiens prirent Paris en Janvier 1871 Lith Lemaine & Fils, 61, r. de Cléry En Vente chez Duclaux, 21, Place du Château-d' Eau / Dépôt chez Madre, 20, r, du Croissant, Paris' (Lettered)
  • 'Faustin 29 janvier 1871' (Signed and dated)
Gallery label
(27/05/1971-10/10/1971)
"Faustin" (pseudonym of Faustin Betbeder) (born 1847)

Favre, Garnier-Pagès, Trochu, Jules Ferry, the Mayor of Paris , and Thiers drop the key to the taking of Paris over the city wall into Bismarck's hands. This caricature reflects the sense of betrayal felt by many Parisians.

Lithograph, coloured by hand. E.1013-1962
Subjects depicted
Keys (Hardware)
Door Lock
City Wall
Escutcheons (Coats of Arms)
Favre, Jules
Trochu (General)
Ferry, Jules
Von Bismarck, Otto (Count)
Thiers, Adolphe
Garnier-Pagès, Louis-Antoine
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.1013-1962

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Record createdFebruary 6, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O186560/la-clef-de-la-situation-print-betbeder-faustin/
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