Paul Gavarni was the nom de plume of Sulpice Guilaume Chevalier, a Parisian who started life as an engineer's draughtsman, but who soon became a caricaturist and illustrator. His better known work appeared in Le Charivari, though some of his most acerbic work appeared in L'Illustration after a visit to London.
Gavarni's images, especially the drawings and watercolors that he produced after 1837, might be said to be a comedy of manners rather than caricature. It is possible that the present sheet, which depicts a squat man and a dog, dates to that period of his career.