They are going to be trapped, these Europeans!...they have canons that are terrible because they are striped with grooves,... I have the excellent idea of striping with grooves all my soldiers!... 1859

Editor: This lithograph by Honoré Daumier, its title long enough to be its own caption, depicts a scene "En Chine." The strong lines and caricatured figures give it a satirical edge. What cultural memory does this imagery evoke for you? Curator: Daumier uses the visual shorthand of 19th-century European perception of China. Notice the Mandarin's dress, the striped soldiers… stripes meant something then, a symbol of the exotic "other," but here twisted into satire. What psychological effect does this intended absurdity have on the viewer, then and now? Editor: It makes you question the logic of prejudice. The humor undermines the authority it's mocking. Curator: Precisely! Daumier taps into a potent visual language to expose the ridiculousness of cultural assumptions. Editor: I see how understanding that historical visual vocabulary unlocks deeper meaning.