Le Pot de Terre et Le Pot de Fer [The Clay Pot and the iron Pot]
- Title:
- Le Pot de Terre et Le Pot de Fer [The Clay Pot and the iron Pot]
- Alternate Title:
- The Clay Pot and the iron Pot
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Mignon
- Date:
- 1872
- Posted Date:
- 2017-04-14
- ID Number:
- 1077.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1077_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Other War & Peace
Satirical
Pictorial
Allegorical - Measurement:
- 29 x 23 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This is an allegorical cartoon attacking censorship under the Third Republic after the swift and unexpected loss of the Franco-Prussian War.
On January 15, 1872, a new comic opera premiered in Paris, "Le Roi Carotte" (King Carrot), written by Jacques Offenbach from a play by Victorien Sardou. The work satirized a foolish prince who led his unprepared nation into a disastrous war, and although it had been written before the outbreak of the War, the similarity of fiction to fact and the timing of its performance led to harsh criticism. Hart 1913, 74.
The leading artist André Gill had apparently prepared a cartoon about the opera for the satirical magazine L'Eclipse, but the censors had barred its publication, so the magazine published this one by the artist Mignon in protest. It shows a sturdy iron pot wearing the Phrygian cap of the Communards astride France, cracking a clay pot wearing the shaky crown of the Third Republic on the border with Prussia. It's based on an old French fable from La Fontaine (and before that, Aesop), and seems to suggest that the french people are stronger than the censorship of the Third Republic. Below the Mignon cartoon is the statement that "The Gill drawing that was to appear in this issue was prohibited by the Censors."
André Gill was among "the foremost exponents" of the "new map genre," blurring the boundary between cartoon art and cartography. Barron 2008, 9. For examples of his works, see ID #1076, "Guet-Aspens [Ambush]; ID # 2105 "Carte du Theatre de la Guerre des Journaux".
For other maps in the Collection related to the war, Search > "Franco-Prussian."
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- L'Eclipse, January 21, 1872.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.