This collage, dated 1888 and bearing partially illegible initials (“ER ??”), is composed of a meticulous assemblage of cut-out postage stamps. On the reverse, an old newspaper clipping, partially illegible and transcribed, suggests an attribution to a certain Mr. Germay, a police commissioner who resided on Rue du Mont-Saint-Martin in the historic center of Liège, Belgium.
The image depicts an arrest scene: a thief is being apprehended by police officers mounted on a dog, most likely a Saint Bernard. The iconography is distinguished by a generalized anthropomorphism, with all the figures represented as monkeys.
This unusual visual strategy lends the scene a satirical and playful dimension, transforming an otherwise conventional police narrative into a curious hybrid of caricature, fantasy, and social observation.