A cat in pattens [graphic]

"A grotesquely ugly old maid, wearing pattens, walks preceded by a small poodle, clipped in an exaggeration of the French manner, and followed by a black foot-boy in livery, who holds on a skewer a lump of 'Cat's Meat'. He carries an umbrella under his arm. Her dress is blown back against her skinny form; her hands are in a large muff, and she wears a fur tippet over a tight bodice defining shoulders, round to deformity. Her profile is hideously sub-human. She walks with a fixed stare, not looking at a half-naked beggar (right) with a patch over one eye and supported on a crutch who holds out his hat for alms. Behind is a blank wall, above which are a church spire and old-fashioned gabled houses."--British Museum online catalogue