The MuCEM's rebus collection is part of the vast collection of popular imagery to which the chromolithographs belong. This production, essentially French, was executed between 1860 and 1914. The most common form is the advertising card. Small in size and attractively coloured, the cards accompanied a consumer good and were produced in series to be collected as purchases were made. Addressing a variety of themes, they thus became a mirror of society, with an advertising and entertainment vocation. Around one hundred and forty thousand different models were created. Among this diversity, several series feature rebuses that most often illustrate popular sayings and proverbs.
