Updated 22 November 2023
Currently not on display
Currently not on display
<JOURNEY TO CHINA>: (14) THE POLKA: The Chinese people, an eminently observant and wise people, having noticed that the turkey-cock an animal of very phlegmatic temperament, seemed however to take the greatest pleasure in [enticing?] by turns each foot with a small jerky movement, one day took it into their heads to imitate this poultry in that type of amusement. Thence the origin of a dance which immediately caused delight in the best society of Peking and its suburb, but as a result of an equally Chinese whim this dance was named the Polka whereas good sense, grammar and the turkeys called for themselves to be baptised with the name of turkey-cocka.
Date | 1844 |
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Materials and Techniques | lithograph |
Size(cm) | 23.9 x 20.3 |
Inscriptions | Signed on the stone, lower right: h. D; numbered on the stone, above the signature, right: 670 |
Standard ref. | Delteil 1202 (ii/ii), Tobu III-200 |
Category | Prints |
Collection Number | G.2000-1465 |
Provenance
Peter Morse; Tobu Museum of Art (Tobu Railway Company); Purchased by the NMWA, 2001.
Exhibition History
- 2000
- Honoré Daumier Caricatures III: From the Tobu Collections, Tobu Museum of Art, 5 February 2000 - 14 March 2000, no. 61
- 2010
- [Prints and Drawings Exhibition] Outsiders, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 10 December 2010 - 13 February 2011, cat. no. 88
Bibliography
- 2002
- Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 35 (Apr. 2000-Mar. 2001), 2002, Takahashi, Akiya. New Acquisitions. pp. 14-15, List of New Acquisitions. pp. 122-123.