This photogravure by Dujardin appeared along with 12 others in Revue de l’Exposition Universelle de 1889, a world’s fair held in Paris, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fourth of eight expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The Eiffel Tower was created for the Exposition. The Javanese dances were, according to general opinion, one of the popular heights of the Exposition.

While the quality of the print lacks some of the richness of photogravures printed on heavier paper or in smaller quantity, it still retains the qualities of the ink-on-paper syntax that makes photogravure so compelling.

The original firm of Léon & Lévy was a French printing house and photograph publishing company located in Paris. It was founded in 1864 by Isaac Georges Lévy (also known J. Lévy) and his father-in-law, Moysé Léon. The firm specialized in stereoscopic glass plates and picture postcards and became one of the most important postcard publishers in France. Léon left the firm in 1872, and the firm was renamed J. Lévy & Cie and then in 1895, Lévy Fils et Cie.