Author(s):
monnier, henry bonaventure (paris, 07–06–1799 - paris, 03–01–1877 — 3–6–1877), designer
delpech, françois seraphin (orléans, 1778 - 1825), printer-lithographer
type(s) of object(s): graphic arts, print
name(s): print
materials and techniques: vellum paper, watercolor, lithography
dimensions - artwork:
height: 26. 9cm
width: 35. 4cm
dimensions - image:
height: 16cm
width: 17. 4cm
dimensions - mounting:
height: 40cm
width: 30cm
description:
plate from the moral and philosophical sketches series
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
inscription - under the line on the left: "henry monnier" and on the right: "i. Lith. De delpech"
caption - under the image: the grocer / is my cousin at home? /the door/we don't have any of those people here
iconographic description:
a bourgeois couple appears in front of a doorman's lodge in a dilapidated courtyard. A concierge with an uninviting appearance, a broom in her hand and wearing a scarf, gives them information. Actor, playwright and designer, henry monnier helped illustrate la comédie humaine. His engravings of administrative morals, and especially his play scenes from bureaucratic life, clearly inspired balzac for his novel la femme supérieure, renamed les employés. The same references to the customs of their time often inspired the two artists in parallel on numerous subjects as we can see in the following extract: "fortunately for madame cibot, legitimate marriage and the life of a concierge arrived in time to preserve her; she remained like a model of rubens, maintaining a virile beauty that her rivals on the rue de normandie slandered, calling her a big dondon. These flesh tones could be compared to the appetizing glazes of the lumps of butter from isigny; and notwithstanding her plumpness, she displayed incomparable agility in her duties. Madame cibot reached the age where these kinds of women are obliged to have a beard. Wouldn't that mean that she was forty-eight years old, one of the greatest guarantees of order and security for an owner? broom, certainly he would have made a bellone!” [excerpt from le cousin pons, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
subject of society, morals, janitor, inner courtyard, broom
mode of acquisition: purchase
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal 98-161. Date: Unknown.
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