50. Félix Buhot
1847-1898
La Place des Martyrs et la Taverne du Bagne (The Place des Martyrs and the Jailhouse Tavern)

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La Place des Martyrs

La Place des Martyrs et la Taverne du Bagne (The Place des Martyrs and the Jailhouse Tavern)

Etching, with drypoint and aquatint, 1885, 340 x 449 mm., Bourcard/Goodfriend 163 i/iii. A very good impression of the first state (effet de jour) before the complete reworking of the plate, printed in blue-black ink on brownish wove paper with narrow margins on three sides, a larger margin at the base; a tear in the bottom margin has been repaired and the paper, though de-acidified, is somewhat fragile. Fully signed in pencil, inscribed "Vers par M. Jean le Fustec" and "Premier état (une vingtième d'épreuves)." Though the first state is described as pure etching, there are actually a few patches of tone in the image that could only have been produced by aquatint or sulphur tint. The Taverne du Bagne was a "theme restaurant" in which arriving customers were denounced by men dressed as prison guards, manacled and led to their tables where they were served by waiters in jail garb in a dark room decorated with bath (baigner) scenes. It was a very popular place.