J. J. Grandville

Watermark: none.
Grandville became the highest-paid illustrator of the 1840s with his designs for publications such as “Scenes de la vie privée et publique des animaux,” published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel. The artist's satirical half-human, half-animal creations mocked the very people who bought “Les Animaux”: the growing bourgeoisie.
This drawing is a preparatory study for the plate opposite p. 232, "Je partis en qualité de Procureur-Général des Moineaux de Paris" (I left as Procureur-Général of the Sparrows of Paris) one of Grandville's illustrations for "Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux," published in Paris in 1842 by Pierre-Jules Hetzel et Paulin. This two-volume book was conceived as a vehicle for Grandville's illustrations, set to text by various authors, including Balzac.