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La Comédie Politique

Print
1870-1871 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Lemaine & Fils (lithographer)
ED (caricaturist)
Place of origin
France (printed)

Satirical print showing Jules Favre and Adolphe Thiers standing in front of a curtain openly weeping. Behind the curtain they both stand looking pleased. Thier's shadow resembles the shape of a pear. 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.
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 Comédie Politique (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured lithograph on paper
Paper
Lithography
Hand-Colouring
Brief description
'La Comédie Politique'. Satirical illustration by 'ED' showing Jules Favre and Adolphe Thiers standing in front of a curtain openly weeping. Hand-coloured lithograph, France, 1870-1871.
Physical description
Satirical print showing Jules Favre and Adolphe Thiers standing in front of a curtain openly weeping. Behind the curtain they both stand looking pleased. Thier's shadow resembles the shape of a pear. 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.
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: 22.9cm
  • Width: 19.4cm
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
  • 'La Comédie Politique. Lith. Lemaine et Fils En Vente eh. Duclaux, 21, pl. du Ch-d' Eau Dépôt ch. Madre, 20, r. du Croissant En Scêne. Derrière le Rideau.' (Lettered)
  • 'ED' (Signed with monogram)
  • (Most prints in this set are lettered with the names of artists and printers and have captions)
Gallery label
(27/05/1971-10/10/1971)
E D

Favre was notorious for the freedom with which he showed his emotions and Thiers is said to have wept as he returned from Versailles after drawing up the terms of the peace treaty. The caricaturist expresses his opinion of the authenticity of these public displays of woe. Thiers' relationship with Louis-Philippe is recalled by his pear-like shadow, the fruit by which this former king of France was often represented.

Lithograph, coloured by hand. E.1112-1962
Subjects depicted
Politician
Favre, Jules
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, 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.1112-1962

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Record createdFebruary 10, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O187042/la-comédie-politique-print-ed/
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