The blacksmith lets his iron grow cold attending to the taylor's news [graphic].

"The interior of a blacksmith's forge. Two men in leather aprons and rolled up shirt-sleeves stand at the anvil; one has a hammer in his right. hand, the iron in his left. Both gape in consternation towards a tailor, who stands on the right. He holds in his hand a newspaper, "The Morning . . . Monday July" and reads from it. Under his arm is a large pair of scissors, a yard measure hangs from his pocket. The other smith, behind and to the left., is similarly dressed; by him stands a man also wearing an apron but with a coat and a short wig. In the background is a woman holding a baby. On the left. is a large forge with a cone-shaped chimney and an enormous pair of bellows. The roof is raftered. Four horse-shoes, a bent strip of iron, and the portrait of a man (possibly Wilkes) hang on the wall. A dog is asleep in the foreground."--British Museum online catalogue