Sale 219 Lot 450

EMPEROR SOULOUQUE SUES LE CHARIVARI FOR DEFAMATION, A SATIRE OF FAUSTIN I OF HAITI, circa 1850 Cham (Amedee de Noe, French, 1818-1879), lithograph on wove paper published in the Parisian satirical journal "Le Charivari," a caricature lampooning Faustin Soulouque, who proclaimed himself Emperor Faustin I of Haiti in 1849, shown with his consort in the "Bureau du Charivari" presenting a legal summons to a seated clerk in a jester's cap. The image is a racist caricature of its period, exaggerating the features of the Haitian ruler and his wife in a manner typical of French press mockery of the Haitian Empire. Plate signed in the stone "CHAM" with plate number, inscribed "Chez Aubert Pl. de la Bourse" at lower left and "Imp. Aubert & Cie" at lower right, and captioned "L'Empereur Soulouque desirant se procurer des fonds pour donner des etrennes a l'Imperatrice Ourika, intente un proces en diffamation au Charivari et lui demande dix mille francs de dommages-interets." Unframed. sheet: 10 x 14.75 inches
$120-160