Je Suis Malikoko. ca. 1919.

Artist: DHARM
Size: 30 1/8 x 46 1/4 in./76.5 x 117.5 cm
Condition: B+/ Slight tears and stains at folds and edges.
Printer: Imp. J. Minot, Paris
Reference:
Key Words: Art Nouveau; Black Images; Theatre

Je Suis Malikoko. ca. 1919.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the African King stereotype was a common trope of the theatre and advertising. He appeared with "a top hat in guise of a crown, a chic cane for a scepter, monocle, cigarette holder, classy! But… he is of course naked, or nearly, under a undersized dinner jacket... Add a few military flourishes borrowed from Toussaint-Louverture’s representations, just to recall his tyrannical pretensions and his love of war, and you could not get more ridiculous in the eyes of the French, champions of elegance. A black man who thought himself a man of the world!" (Sylvie Chalaye, From Dangerous Native to Amicable Cannibal). That image inspired André Mouëzy-Éon to write his play Malikoko, le Roi Nègre (Malikoko, the Black King), which starred a cannibal king with an appetite for white people. Audiences loved Malikoko and found him irresistibly funny; children were especially enthralled, and Malikoko became something of a cultural icon. This design likely served as satirical amusement for Malikoko's fans.