Fifteen officers sit round a roughly made table on which are decanters and fruit. A stout officer (? captain dottin [identification on print. Abel rous dottin was captain in the and life guards. 'army list', 1797. ]) right, in an arm-chair, gives the toast 'the king', all raise their glasses with varying expressions. The duke of york, spilling his wine, looks tipsily towards dottin. Only one man stands, straddling across the seat of his chair, a decanter of 'tokay' in his left hand. Captain birch, [james birch was lieutenant in the first life guards, thomas birch a captain in the sixteenth light dragoons. Ibid. , 1797. ] caricatured as in bmsat 9068, sits on the duke's left. The officer on the extreme left, looking down slyly, resembles general davies, see bmsat 9442. Next him, a very fat officer is smoking a pipe, a paper of tobacco on the table in front of him, a bottle of 'gin' under his chair. The third profile from the left resembles that of prince william of gloucester. Wright and evans add col. Jekyl: the profile on the extreme right has a family likeness to that of joseph jekyll, none resembles the col. Jekyll of bmsat 7330. All wear cocked hats. The decanters or bottles on the table are labelled 'champa[gne]', 'claret', 'burgundy'. Under the table are more bottles, and empty bottles lie on the ground, with broken glasses, a pineapple, and an orange. The floor is boarded and the table roughly made, but the chairs are ornate and decorated with ormolu. 14 november 1797
hand-coloured etching and aquatint. Date: 1797. Dimensions: Height: 262 mm; Width: 367 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: James Birch. Collection: British Museum. Loyal souls; -or- a peep into the mess-room, at St James's (BM 1851,0901.882)
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