All Resolutions
Artist
- Name:
- Grandville, J.-J.
- Dates:
- 1803-1847
- Country:
- France
Illustration
- Subject:
- Humor
- Technique:
- Wood engraving
- Format:
- Portrait (taller)
- Source:
- University of Ottawa Library, the Internet Archive
Book
- Title:
- Cent proverbes
- Author(s):
- Achard, Amédée, Delord, Taxile, Frémy, Arnould, Old Nick (Émile Forgues)
- Publisher:
- Paris: Henri Fournier, 1845
- Open Library:
- View record.
Description
A group of people representing all sort of trades and occupations (notably featuring an artist) seems to be playing a game of tug of war with the Devil’s tail.
The caption reads in the original French: Tirer le Diable par la queue.
This saying doesn’t seem to have any satisfactory equivalent in English and is used to signify the hardship of having to struggle to make ends meet, to scrape by, hang on by one’s fingernails, and so forth.
Keywords: 1840s, 19th century, black & white, devil, proverb
