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Le Vieux Singe Savant

Print
1870-1871 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Betbeder, Faustin (caricaturist)
Barousse (lithographer)
Place of origin
Paris (printed)

Satirical print depicting Adolphe Thiers as having the body of a monkey. Thiers sits on a lecturn stirring a solution in a glass that he is holding, with a crown on the end of his tail. In the background there is a cockerel and a wolf. 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
TitleLe Vieux Singe Savant (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured lithograph on paper
Paper
Lithography
Hand-Colouring
Brief description
'Le Vieux Singe Savant'. Satirical illustration by Faustin Betbeder depicting Adolphe Thiers as having the body of a monkey. Hand-coloured lithograph, France, 1870-1871.
Physical description
Satirical print depicting Adolphe Thiers as having the body of a monkey. Thiers sits on a lecturn stirring a solution in a glass that he is holding, with a crown on the end of his tail. In the background there is a cockerel and a wolf. 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: 32.4cm
  • Width: 24.1cm
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
  • 'Le Vieux Singe Savant. Madre, Editeur, rue du Croissant 20. Lith. Barousse, à Paris Va-t' -il être plumé ce pauvre coq gaulois!...' (Lettered)
  • 'Versailles' and 'Mes Bons Messieurs Je vous affirme que je suis Républicain et que j'adore Votre Vile Multitude! . . . . .' (Lettered within the design)
  • 'Faustin' (Signed)
Subjects depicted
Lecturn
Monkey
Hat
Tumblers (Drinking Glasses)
Crowns (Headdresses)
Cockrel
Wolf
Thiers, Adolphe
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: Victoria and Albert Museum, 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.1150-1962

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Record createdFebruary 6, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O186612/le-vieux-singe-savant-print-betbeder-faustin/
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