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Ratapoil
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Daumier intended this swaggering bully, Ratapoil (rat skin), to satirize the unscrupulous political agents who connived to help Louis Napoleon rise to power and become "Emperor of the French" (1852-70). None of Daumier's models in clay, wax, or plaster were cast in bronze during his lifetime. This example, ordered from the foundry of Siot-Decauville in 1891 by George A. Lucas, William T. Walters' art advisor, is ranked among the earliest and finest casts of the subject.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
The George A. Lucas Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, May 9, 1910, by bequest [Henry Walters as executor]; Walters Art Museum, 1996, by purchase.
Exhibitions
| 2006 | A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of Nineteenth Century French Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
| 2002-2004 | A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. |
| 1989-1990 | Daumier and the Art of Caricature. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
| 1979 | A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, 1860-1909. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1951 | From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 10/1/1947 | Treatment | cleaned; coated |
| 11/20/1968 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 1/31/2001 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 3/6/2001 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 4/16/2001 | Treatment | loss compensation; coated |
| 2/9/2002 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 17 11/16 x W: 6 11/16 x D: 7 1/16 in. (45 x 17 x 18 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with exchange funds from the gifts of Mrs. T. Willing Balch, Mrs. Ludlow Baldwin, Mrs. Joseph Bryan III, Gabriele Bruck, Misses Elizabeth L. and Louise M. Clark, Mrs. Denison Frick, Mr. David R. Harrison, Mrs. Frances W. Haussner, The Haussner Family Limited Partnership, Mr. Martin Horowitz, Mrs. Jane Lipman in memory of Leroy and Elizabeth Lipman, the estate of Rita Lowenstein, Mrs. Thelma Pierce, Sara D. Redmond, Harriet Rowland, Louis E. Shecter, Mrs. Henriette Stevens, James and Jean Tebay, and William C. Whittridge, and the bequests of Miss Laura F. Delano, Laura Delano Eastman, Mrs. Ruth Mangels Wineholt Eppler, Mr. Stephen Glazer, Mr. Philip B. Perlman, Mary Saunders Ward, Mrs. Frances Eaton Weld, and H. Morris Whitehurst, 1996–2008
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
27.497