The gig shop, or, Kicking up a breeze at Nell Hammiltons hop [graphic]

"Scene in a dance-room, which is roughly panelled, has a low platform across one end, and a small gallery (right) with a fiddler and a man blowing a French horn; it is lit by a hanging chandelier. In the centre two men face each other in boxing attitudes; one is stripped to the waist, the other to the shirt. Women stand behind them, alarmed or interested. A woman has fainted and is supported by a man who administers smelling-salts. On the right a wild scuffle is going on: two termagants seize each other by the hair, a third, on the ground, pulls down one of the combatants; they resemble prostitutes of St. Giles. Others are comelier and better dressed. Women and men stand on the platform watching with amused interest; one or two women register alarm or concern; on the right are two ugly old bawds."--British Museum online catalogue, description of an earlier state