1804
Original lithograph hightened with watercolour
215 × 375 mm, margins 240 × 395 mm
Fine impression on greenish laid paper, printed by the lithographic printing house at 24 rue Saint Sébastien, small restored lack in the lower left corner, slight scattered foxing
Provenance: Gabriel Cognacq (Lugt 538d), P. Prouté (L. 2103c)
References: Dépôt Légal : 12.04.1805 n° 115, IFF not described, Bonafous-Murat 1987 n°1, Chappey 45

NB: This print was registered at the legal deposit on April 12, 1805 under the number 115 by Louise Gabrielle Revillon, wife Vernay, successor of Frédéric André who had founded the first lithographic printing house in Paris. It represents the store of the famous print merchant Aaron Martinet, located at 124 rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré, on the current rue Marengo. A meeting place for print lovers, especially caricature lovers, during the Consulate and the Empire, crowds flocked to the store windows where new prints were regularly displayed. There are later variations of the subject, notably the English one attributed to Thomas Rowlandson (Metropolitan Museum Collection, inv. no. 67.686.15).