Sale 219 Lot 442

A COLONIAL PLANTER OVERSEEING ENSLAVED LABOR, FROM LA CARICATURE circa 1830s-1840s Paul Gavarni (Hippolyte Chevalier, French, 1804-1866), hand-colored lithograph on wove paper, published in the Parisian satirical journal "La Caricature," depicting a scowling colonial planter in a wide-brimmed straw hat, light jacket, and striped trousers, standing with arms crossed and a shovel at his feet before a thatched plantation hut, while a half-clothed enslaved figure sits with his back turned in the background. The composition pointedly contrasts the idle, authoritative stance of the slaveholder with the subordinate, anonymous figure behind him, reflecting French satirical commentary on the plantation system and the master-slave relationship in the colonies during the debates over abolition. Signed in the stone "Gavarni" at lower left, inscribed "La Caricature Journal" at upper right, "Imp. d'Aubert & Cie" at lower left and "Par Gavarni" at lower right. Unframed. plate: 7.75 x 6 inches; sheet: 14 x 10 inches
$100-150