Eight fat hollanders, arranged in two rows, a caption above each. [1] 'watch with diligence!!' a dutch soldier sleeps in an upright chair, his pipe (upside down) in his mouth, hands folded. Beside him are a bottle of 'gin' and a musket. [2] 'advance with spirit!!' a dutchman, yawning cavernously, stands with arms outstretched. A frog escapes from beside his left foot. [3] 'face your enemies!!' a dutchman stands in back view, smoking hard; a bottle protrudes from a pocket in his bulky breeches. [4] 'stand to your guns!!' a dutch soldier, with a terrified expression, runs off to the right, having dropped his musket, which is going off, pointing in the opposite direction to that of the enemy. A smoking tobacco-pipe is fastened to the brim of his cocked hat. [5] 'reverence treaties!!' a dutchman wearing long skates stands (on ice) in profile to the right. From his pocket issues a torn paper: 'alliance treaty'; he lights his pipe with a fragment. [6] 'assist your government!!' a dutchman stands full-face, with a calculating sideways glance, smoking a pipe, his hands thrust deep in his pockets. His dress suggests vulgar wealth, and an attempt to follow the fashion; it is covered with large (yellow) buttons, he wears two bunches of seals from his fob, half-boots, his queue (seen between his legs) reaches nearly to the ground; under his arm is a bludgeon. [7] 'obey your orders!!' a dutchman, wearing cavalry uniform with two chevrons on his sleeve, sits in profile to the right on a low upturned tub, meditatively playing cards. He wears spectacles and smokes a pipe. [8] 'rise in a mass!!' a very fat dutchman sits on the ground, drunk, with eyes closed, his pipe dropping from his mouth; a pitcher falls from his right hand, pouring its contents over a bust portrait of the 'statdholder'. 1 april 1795
hand-coloured etching. Date: 1793. Dimensions: Height: 349 mm; Width: 487 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: William V, Prince of Orange. Collection: British Museum. A new Dutch Exercise (BM 1876,1014.27)
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