DAUMIER, H. - Croquis Parisiens - " Est-ce le garçon..... faut-il lui demander une assiette? …"

Second state (of 3), with text. From "Croquis Parisiens". Text below image :
"- Est-ce le garçon..... faut-il lui demander une assiette?...
- Ma foi, je ne te le conseille pas..... je crois plutôt que c'est un notaire...... on vient de le chercher pour un dineur qui se sera cru empoisonné et qui aura voulu faire son testament au dessert.."
(- Is this the waiter... do you think I can ask him for a plate? - Really, I can't recommend that... I think he is probably a notary... They have probably called him in to see a guest who fears having been poisoned and who wants to draw up his last will during desert.)

In 1855 Daumier started publishing his famous caricatures "Ces Bons Parisiens" (These good Parisians) a series consisting of 11 prints, of which 10 appeared between March 1855 and May 1858 in the Charivari and one in January 1860. A number of extremely rare albums appeared on white paper.

Known chiefly as a political and social satirist, Honoré DAUMIER (1808-1879) used the printmaking process of lithography, still relatively new at the time, to contribute cartoons and caricatures to French news weeklies.