Elegant and affluent customers enjoy ices in a grand room in London's fashionable St. James's. The female server behind the counter is elegantly dressed and looks with ease out of the window. A finely dressed gentleman leans against the counter at right, spooning ice cream into his mouth from a glass he holds in his left hand; his hat, gloves, and stick are carefully arranged on a chair next him. Two women are seated at the left side of the counter, one holding an ice cream glass and spoon. A classical fireplace on the right has additional glasses arranged upon it. A great craze in 18th-century Britain, amongst the wealthy, was ice cream. Establishments such as The Pineapple on Berkeley Square (close by St James’s), owned by Domenico Negri, offered "All Sorts of Ice, Fruits & Creams" (see the elaborate trade card in the British Museum). This print was intended as a companion piece to "Refreshment at St. Giles's" which, in contrast, shows two women and a man being served gin by a female proprietor from a makeshift and run-down bar
Alternative Title:
Refreshment at Saint James's
Description:
Title etched below image., Probably a later state, with remnants of a burnished imprint statement visible beneath title. Publication information inferred from imprint "London, Publish'd June 1st, 1789, by G.T. Stubbs, No. 2 Compton Street, Soho" present on companion print; see British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: 1948,0315.6.36., Companion print to: Refreshment at St. Giles's., and Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires.
Publisher:
G.T. Stubbs
Subject (Topic):
Interiors, Ice cream & ices, Eating & drinking, and Fireplaces
