Caricature of a Printer

Jean Charles Delafosse French
 Formerly attributed to Ennemond Alexandre Petitot French

Not on view

Delafosse was an occasional architect and prodigious designer of decoration and ornament. Here, he puts a humorous twist on the centuries-old tradition of depicting various trades in a series of individual figures.

The printer of copper plates is given the form of a donkey. The pads that take the place of hands are used for spreading ink on a plate and the devices at the shoulders represent the handles for increasing the pressure in a printing press.

Caricature of a Printer, Jean Charles Delafosse (French, Paris 1734–1789 Paris), Pen and black ink, brush and gray and colored wash, over traces of black chalk

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Caricature of a Printer, Jean Charles Delafosse (French, Paris 1734–1789 Paris), Pen and black ink, brush and gray and colored wash, over traces of black chalk
Caricature of a Printer, Jean Charles Delafosse (French, Paris 1734–1789 Paris), Pen and black ink, brush and gray and colored wash, over traces of black chalk

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.