A Scene from the Flood of 1806

Napoleonic Era Caricature
Handcolored Engraving

Une Scene du Deluge survenu dans le Nord en 1806

We have not been able to determine what this intersting caricature refers to (should you be able to break the code, please let us know!)

It is possible that it is a reference to the defeat of the Prussian army.

Three military men dangle from a tree in an effort to escape the rising waters. The top man says "cette femme me prend par mon fabile et m'entraine dans sa chute" (That woman has latched onto my weakness and is bringing me down with her). The second says "Cher Prince, nous n'avons plus d'espoir qu'en toi" (Dear Prince, you are our last hope." And the last, whose feet are just above the water, says "Tiens bon, tiens bon ma femme" (Hold on tightly to my wife."

A Redheaded German man sits atop a pile of rocks and sandbags, watching as his factories are swept away. He exclaims: "Mes Magasins, me fabriques sont perdues. Gott Damm, je vais morir de faim et de misere.' (My storage halls and my factories are lost. Gott Damm! I will die of hunger and misery.)

The engraving is signed in the plate "Forioso Fecit."

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