"A grotesque body of tradesmen, &c, march in close formation, with fixed bayonets. They wear military coats and crossed bandoliers with very unsoldierly foot-gear and appurtenances. Their leader (right) marches in profile to the right, a very short and fat butcher in over-sleeves wearing a feathered cocked hat above his butcher's cap, a military sash (from which hangs his steel) over an apron. He carries a banner on which St. George is killing the dragon. The front rank consists of (left to right): a cobbler wearing an apron, with the twisted shins known as cheese-cutters, and tattered stockings; a bricklayer, with thick gouty legs, a trowel thrust through his apron-string; an artist, his palette inscribed 'R.A', very thin and with a grotesquely thin neck; his toes project through a tattered boot of fashionable shape; a tailor with shears and tape-measure, a hairdresser with scissors and combs wearing a fashionable stock. On the left of this front rank a dwarfish drummer, an old campaigner with two wooden legs and one eye, beats his drum. Behind, the men recede in perspective, densely packed together."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., One line of quoted text following title: "The French invade us, hay? Damme, who'se afraid?", Temporary local subject terms: Militias -- Trades: cobblers -- Butchers -- Tailors -- Hairdressers -- Brick-layers -- Artists -- Drummers -- Wooden legs -- Eye patches -- Banners: St. George and the dragon -- Reference to Pitt's proposal (Oct. 1796) for supplementary militia., and Mounted to 32 x 48 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 25, 1796, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
