Anon
Tout oe rien ; c’est – a dire ; paix profonde ou grand Cruit.
Paris, ca. 1820
Etching
Original hand colouring
250 x 370 mm
Traces of old folds
£250
A group of nine fashionably dressed gentlemen of varying ages enter a long room. At the end of the room a naked skinny woman is entering a bath, one leg in with a cloth in her right hand. The men are all watching, pointing and waving their arms about. Each figure has a number above his head from 1 to 9. Exclamations emit from them all, including; El moi après vous ! , Je vais done entrer a mon tour, Quel savoir faire ! Comme il y tenait, the closest to the woman, bespectacled, bends down and peers at her , saying; Qu’elle est laide ! …mais, qu’elle est prevenante !. The woman, who is numbered 10, says , Ciel ! …quelques uns d’entre eux en meme tems’ ..Dissimulons… Above her head is a mirror angled downwards towards her, numbered 11, and on the wall in the centre of the image a picture hangs on the wall, numbered 12. The subject is the back of a man holding up letters in both of his hands. Dotted lines connect the picture with the 11 figures below, with messages sent to them all, including, Priez Dieu ¬!! in the direction of the woman.. Below the image are lines of text , including Observations a couple of lines after an asterisk which links to an asterisk by the side of the woman, qu’il y a de plus plaisant c’est la fidelite du portrait. Before that is a Conclusion; Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galere.
