The figure seated on the coal cart, face and arms covered in coal dust, arms outspread, and wearing bright yellow overalls, is intended to suggest the canary that was often used in coal mines to warn of dangerous gases. Jean d’Ylen (born Jean Paul Beguin) began his career as a jewelry designer but in 1919, after military service in World I, he joined the Vercasson publishing firm as a poster designer, ultimately succeeding Leonetto Cappiello as its favored house artist and producing more than two hundred designs between then and 1934. Like this poster, they typically reflected Cappiello’s style, featuring an exuberant, colorful figure set against a dark ground.