?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
MAURICE MAHUL (1879-1929) NOUVEAU CIRQUE / LE CAKE - WALK. 1903. 37 1/2x51 inches, 95 1/4x129 1/2 cm. Chaix, Paris. Condition B+: repaired tear through right margin, into image. Framed. From the 1850s, in the earliest days of the French Music Halls, black musicians and minstrel shows were popular attractions in Paris. In "the Plantation South, the Cakewalk was the sole organized and even condoned forum for servants to mock their masters. A send-up of the rich folks in the 'Big House,' the Cakewalk mocked the aristocratic and grandiose mannerisms of Southern high-society. Much bowing and bending were characteristic of the dance. Couples lined up to form an aisle, down which each pair would take a turn at a high-stepping promenade. In many instances the Cakewalk was performance, and even competition. The dance would be held at the master's house . . . and he would serve as judge. The dance's name comes from the cake . . . awarded to the winning couple" (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/lucas/cake.html). The dance was introduced in Paris at the turn of the century at the Nouveau Cirque. Franz Laskoff designed one poster for the show, and Mahul, an otherwise unknown artist, designed this second one.
