“- Arthur, you had promised me a throne and all you did is put me behind a counter. - Eloise, remember Napoleon's definition of a throne: 'four boards covered with a carpet.' You are sitting on six boards and a cushion,” plate 36 from Moeurs Conjugales Possibly 1841

This lithograph, created by Honoré Daumier in the 19th century, uses humble materials to make a point about social status. Daumier employed lithography, a printmaking process that relies on the chemical repulsion of oil and water. The artist would have drawn on a stone with a greasy crayon, then treated the stone so that ink would adhere only to the drawn areas. The resulting prints, like this one, allowed for relatively quick and inexpensive reproduction, making art accessible to a broader audience. In this print, the artist depicts a domestic scene, highlighting the tension between aspirations and reality, in which the husband reminds his wife that a throne is just boards. By using a medium that democratizes art, Daumier subtly reinforces the idea that true status is not about material possessions but rather about the realities of everyday life.