Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections

Russian Cossacks

Cossack of the Don. The Illustrated London News.

February 3, 1854

Cossack of the Don on newspaper page with article text on either side

Cossacks Skirmishing. The Illustrated London News.

November 16, 1855

Cossacks Skirmishing
John Tenniel. Cartoon. Punch.

July 17, 1853

A Good Joke. Oh, It's my fun. I only want to frighten the little fellow.A heavily armed Russian Cossack soldier threateningly mocks a diminutive Turk, with French and British sailors standing in support behind him. After Russia invaded the Danubian Principalities, British and French fleets were positioned to aid Turkey in the event of war.

Honoré Daumier. Actualités, no. 28; Les Cosaques pour rire (Laughing at the Cossacks), no. 16. Le Charivari.

March 29, 1854

LD 2479.

Method for Training the Cossacks“Method for Training the Cossacks.”

With tensions between France and Russia running high, an old wives’ tale that Cossacks subsisted on candles surfaced, which Daumier played to the hilt with caricatures of uncouth, candle-eating Cossacks dominating several of his lithographs.  Here, the Cossacks’ supposed hunger for candles spurs them on during a military training session.

Honoré Daumier. Actualités, no. 34; Les Cosaques pour rire (Laughing at the Cossacks), no. 20. Le Charivari.

April 7, 1854

LD 2481

istribution of one day’s worth of extra rations“Distribution of one day’s worth of extra rations.”

The box in the background reads, “Top Quality Lampions”—flat, plate-shaped iron vessels filled with oil and wicks, perhaps booty from the conquered Danubian Principalities. The Cossack in the middle is licking his normal meal of candles, while his cohort on the right is salivating over his bonus lampion. Note the Cossack sitting in the background licking a lampion as if it were a plate or shallow bowl.