"Courtenay (right), as the chairman of a tavern club, sits at the head of an oblong table, in profile to the left, smoking. He says to George Hanger, who faces him at the foot of the table: "I say, Georgey how do Things look now?" The words issue from his mouth in a cloud of smoke. Hanger answers: "Ax my Grandmother's Muff, pray do!" He holds a pipe, his wine-glass is overturned. His bludgeon is thrust in his top-boot. On Hanger's right sits Fox, leaning back in his chair, registering extravagant amusement and saying "O charming! - charming!" Opposite Fox sits Sheridan, clasping a decanter of 'Brandy' in one hand, a glass in the other. He says, with a sly smile, "Excellent! - damme Georgey, Excellent." Next him, and on Courtenay's right, sits M. A. Taylor, flourishing his pipe and saying, "Bravo! the best Thing I ever heard said, damme." On the table are decanters of 'Mum' and of 'Champaig[n]'. Above Courtenay's head is a picture of a simian creature in a cap of Liberty, squatting on the ground and smoking a pipe. The frame is inscribed 'Juvenal'. The floor is carpeted, the chairs are ornate."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Feast of reason and the flow of soul and Wits of the age setting the table in a roar
Pubd. Feby 4th, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Hanger, George, 1751?-1824, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, and Courtenay, John, 1738-1816
