http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/180571993

The Union Club

Print shows a drunken debauch in the new Union Club, where the chief members of the Opposition have gathered around a long table where Fox, grossly corpulent, sits in an armchair asleep, his feet on the table, a pipe in one hand. Nearly opposite his feet is the chair of state, on the table; on the empty seat is the Prince's cocked hat with triple plume, his motto 'Ich Di[en]' within the crown. The chair is surrounded by broken wine-bottles; its former occupant, the Prince, lies on his back under the table, one arm flung over Lord Stanhope, who lies unconscious, clasping a bottle. In the foreground, opposite the Prince, Norfolk lies with his head against the seat of his overturned chair, looking very ill. Behind him two waiters bring in a full tub of Whiskey Punch, which they spill; one treads on the face of the prostrate Nicholls. All those who are not incapacitated or brawling are toasting the Union. Among the revellers may additionally be recognized the figures of Lansdowne, Parr, Moira, Lord Clermont, Sheridan, Camelford, Derby, Montagu Mathew, Skeffington, Bedford, Tierney, Walpole, Erskine, Queensberry, General Davies the caricaturist, Lord Cholmondeley, Lord Kirkcudbright, George Hanger, Sturt, and Tyrwhitt Jones. In the background, crowded with figures, is wild confusion, with a free fight in progress: a military officer raises a chair to smite; poker, brush, tongs, a stool, bottles, glasses, & c, are weapons or missiles. A lighted chandelier is being broken. In a musician's gallery (right) five men, in Windsor uniform, impassively play 'God save the King' on wind instruments.

Open All Close All