A kick-up at a hazard table! [graphic]

"A wild affray round a circular gaming-table seen at close range, only the heads and shoulders of those on the nearer side of the table being visible. An angry military officer wearing a cocked hat, with an empty wallet on the table before him, leans forward aiming his pistol at a lean and elderly man whose 'chapeau bras' and long pigtail indicate that he is French. The latter covers a pile of guineas with his hand and aims a pistol at his assailant. Some of the players are falling over in their eagerness to escape. Between the combatants, and on the further side of the table, one man holds a chair above his head, about to smite the officer; a fellow-officer raises a bottle and a candle-stick to strike the Frenchman. All the persons (sixteen) are in violent action, with which their expressions correspond. Some are in flight, others about to intervene. On the table are a triple candle-stick, a dice-box and dice, a sword, a hat containing coins, and a purse."--British Museum online catalogue