The caricature of Louis-Philippe I as a pear, created by Charles Philipon in 1831 and published in La Caricature under the title La Poire the same year, gained widespread popularity during the July Monarchy and remains linked to the king.
The symbol's popularity does not stem from any pre-existing association of the pear with a specific meaning, but rather from its graphic design. It is often mistakenly attributed to Honoré Daumier, though Charles Philipon claimed authorship, first using the image in November 1831 during a trial concerning press freedom. Although the had recognized this freedom after the Trois Glorieuses, it was reluctant to uphold it.
As a result, the pear became a symbol of the "war of Philipon against Philippe"—the struggle of a small group of artists to defend republican values. It also served as an emblem of Louis-Philippe and his regime, layered with multiple levels of meaning. The widespread success of the symbol contributed to the re-establishment of press censorship in 1835.
After disappearing for a time, the pear reappeared during the revolution of 1848 and again in 1871. Detached from Louis-Philippe, it evolved into a symbol representing authority and political power, as well as the shift toward bourgeois policies.
Contextualization of the Pear
The pear became closely associated with King Louis-Philippe and is considered an emblem of the July Monarchy. This association has led to two common misconceptions: the belief that "pear" referred to a fool at the time, justifying its use, and the incorrect attribution of the emblem's creation to Honoré Daumier, when Charles Philipon claiming it as his own.
Metaphorical meaning of the pear before Philipon Many authors have assumed that, during the July Monarchy, the term poire (pear) referred to a fool, which may have influenced Philipon's choice. For instance, Ernst Kris and Ernst Gombrich suggested that the pear carried a pejorative meaning in "Parisian slang", symbolizing an idiot or a "fathead". Edwin DeTurck Bechtel also argued that a pear symbolized "a head or a face, a fool or an idiot." Similarly, Nicola Cotton contended that Philipon's caricatures "reinforced a preexisting connection", suggesting that their success would be inexplicable if this association had not been immediately understood.
However, the reference works supporting the notion of poire (pear) as slang for a fool are from after the July Monarchy, such as Henri Bauche's work, which Gabriel Weisberg cited. This anachronism led James Cuno to conclude that the connotation of foolishness does not hold when examining contemporary slang dictionaries, and that this meaning emerged only after Philipon's caricatures. Nevertheless, Cuno suggested that there were other pre-existing connotations related to the pear, though these were more sexual in nature, and he proposed that "the history of the pear as an erotic emblem remains to be written."
To understand the connotations associated by Philipon's audience with the pear, James Cuno proposes considering two paronyms with slang meanings: on the one hand, poivre and its derivatives (poivrade, poivrer, and poivrière), which evoke syphilis and the transmission of venereal diseases, and on the other hand, poireau, which refers to the penis. According to Cuno, these associations are crucial for understanding the joke in Balzac's Le Père Goriot, in which Vautrin, depicted as homosexual, mocks Father Poiret's attraction to Mademoiselle Michonneau. Vautrin points out that Poiret "derives from poire", to which responds: "[Poire] soft! [...] You would then be between the pear and the cheese." Cuno argues that this joke hinges on the pear's phallic connotations, suggesting that it evokes the specter of homosexuality. The humor, according to Cuno, is possible only if the pear carries these phallic associations, which could then be used against Vautrin's own homosexuality.
However, , agreeing with Cuno that the association with stupidity developed later, argues, based on contemporary dictionaries, that there were no sexual connotations linked to the pear at the time. Erre suggests that, before Philipon's use of the symbol in 1831, the pear did not carry any significant meaning.
While the absence of slang meanings for poire in dictionaries prior to Philipon's use does not settle the debate, the suggests that the equivalence between a head and a fruit, such as a pear, is a "commonplace" idea, whether referring to a pear, an apple, a lemon, or a strawberry.
There are a few early 19th-century examples of the pear shape being used in caricature, although these did not carry the same associations with stupidity or sexual innuendo. argues that comparing these early uses of the pear with its later use as an emblem for Louis-Philippe reveals two dominant, yet contradictory, elements: emptiness and fullness, with the pear being "full of emptiness."
Beyond these isolated caricature precedents, the broader use of the pear in visual culture did not initially suggest its later prominence in caricature, particularly in the 1831 context. On the contrary, the pear was also a recurring symbol in Christian imagery, often associated with the Madonna and the theme of gentleness. The pear provided an alternative to the apple, which was historically viewed as representing original sin. The pear's more positive symbolism was reflected in works like Physiologie de la poire (1832), where the pear is humorously associated with aphrodisiac qualities, suggesting it was the pear, not the apple, that tempted Eve.
Fabrice Erre concludes that these earlier iconographic meanings likely did not influence Philipon's choice, further supporting the idea that the pear was not considered a symbol of pornography or sexual innuendo in early 19th-century France.
Politically, the metaphor of the "ripe pear" had been in use in France since the late 18th century. Jacques-René Hébert used it in Le Père Duchesne in 1792, suggesting that "the pear is ripe, it must fall." Napoleon also adopted the phrase, and it became a personal maxim for him, later reformulated by Hippolyte Taine as: "Wait for the pear to ripen, but do not allow anyone else to pick it." Saint-Simon, on his deathbed, also used the phrase, saying: "The pear is ripe; you must pick it."
Philipon before the pear Charles Philipon was born in Lyon in 1800, the son of a wallpaper merchant. At the age of 23, he moved to Paris to pursue an artistic career. To support himself, he initially worked for image makers on Rue Saint-Jacques and for manufacturers of labels and rebuses, illustrating numerous affordable story sheets. From 1824 onward, he began studying lithography while specializing in producing individual works, which were sold as separate sheets. His early works were focused on popular subjects, including fashion series, caricatures of manners, and comic advertisements, although they did not stand out as exceptional.
In October 1829, Philipon contributed to the creation of , the first French periodical to exploit the new possibilities of lithography by regularly publishing illustrated content. His role in the venture has been described by James Cuno as "central", while David Kerr considered it "difficult to determine" and possibly limited to organizing the lithographic section. Two months later, in December 1829, after his brother-in-law Gabriel Aubert faced financial difficulties, Philipon partnered with him to establish , a "caricature shop" that aimed to supply prints created by Philipon and his professional network.
In April 1830, La Silhouette published Un jésuite, a vignette by Philipon depicting Charles X. The caricature represented the liberals' opposition to the ultra-royalists, with Jesuitism serving as a symbol of their political stance. The illustration was discreetly placed within the publication to avoid censorship. Following the release, the issue was seized, and at the trial, the prosecutor argued that the image unmistakably depicted the King. The deputy director of the publication, , fined and sentenced to six months in prison, while Philipon, who had not signed the caricature, avoided punishment. Despite this, the incident helped establish Philipon's reputation as a political caricaturist.
In July 1830, following the Trois Glorieuses, Louis-Philippe ascended to the throne, marking the beginning of the July Monarchy. This new regime pledged to uphold the Constitutional Charter of August 14, 1830, which included provisions for freedom of the press. In August 1830, amid political shifts, Philipon created a series of caricatures of Charles X. James Cuno observed that these caricatures demonstrated a noticeable shift in Philipon's style, with a more developed sense of composition and execution. Cuno characterized Philipon as an entrepreneurial artist, adept at leveraging the growing lithographic market.
In November 1830, Charles Philipon launched his satirical weekly La Caricature, bringing with him the expertise in artists, printers, and distributors that he had acquired at La Silhouette, along with a portion of its readership, as that publication ceased in January 1831. Gabriel Weisberg notes that Philipon's early depictions of Louis-Philippe, such as Promenade Bourgeoise in November 1830, were not overtly critical but focused on the king-citizen's portrayal of bourgeois values.
In February 1831, Philipon published an untitled lithograph depicting Louis-Philippe blowing bubbles from a soap called Mousse de Juillet, which featured slogans such as "freedom of the press" and "the Charter will be a reality." The print was not included in La Caricature but was released separately, possibly to avoid the consequences of its publication. Ségolène Le Men and Nathalie Preiss note that this caricature foreshadowed the development of the Poire figure, symbolizing "swelling" and "hollow inflation." The authorities seized the print at the publisher's premises and confiscated the lithographic stone from the printer. This marked the first caricature to face such treatment under the July Monarchy, despite its constitutional commitment to press freedom. Philipon was charged with insulting the king. His lawyer argued that the caricature did not depict the king himself but instead "personified power," with Philipon maintaining "respect and veneration" for the royal figure. This incident led Philipon to direct La Caricature in a more political direction.
On June 30, 1831, La Caricature published an anonymous caricature depicting Louis-Philippe as a mason plastering a wall to erase the traces of the Trois Glorieuses. As the publication's director, Philipon was again prosecuted for offending the king.
Creation of the Pear
Argumentative origins At the Replâtrage trial before the Assize Court on November 14, 1831, Charles Philipon's lawyer argued that the exercise of press freedom, as guaranteed by the 1830 Charter, required the ability to depict political power through caricature. He contended that this required the right to "take the likeness, not the person, of the one who embodies it." Philipon supported this argument, suggesting that any caricature could be seen to resemble the king's face, regardless of the depiction's style. He argued that this would lead to accusations of lèse-majesté for any caricature. He further contended that the caricature did not target the king himself—who was neither named, titled, nor identified by symbols—but rather "power, represented by a sign, by a likeness that could belong just as much to a mason as to the king, but was not the king." This argument, rooted in praeteritio, has been analyzed by several scholars through Ernst Kantorowicz's theory of the king's dual body — physical and symbolic. To support his argument, Philipon sketched four drawings in which Louis-Philippe's head gradually transformed into a pear:
In a letter from 1846, Philipon explained the intent behind this demonstration: