Company shocked at a lady getting up to ring the bell [graphic]

"A violent disturbance in a luxuriously furnished breakfast parlour. The only lady present has risen from her chair to pull a bell-pull. The frantic efforts of five elderly men to stop her have produced a sequence of disasters. An urn overturns and pours boiling water on a fat man who puts a large lump of food speared on his fork into his eye. A man behind him, rushing to seize the bell-rope, spears the former's wig with his knife. Crockery cascades to the floor, the contents of a tea-pot falling on a dog, who bites the knee of a man in regimentals; he leans forward, planting his toe on the gouty foot of a man behind. The latter, about to fall, grasps the officer's pigtail, flourishing a knife, his mouth choked with food. A fifth man stands behind the table with raised hands and shrugged shoulders. The fare is boiled eggs, bread, and muffins. Over the chimney-piece is a picture of a fat Cupid firing his bow; his quiver is reversed, and one leg is transfixed with an arrow. The walls of the room are ornamented by gilt pilasters in the shape of palm-trees (as in BMSat 10472). Between them are empty candle-sconces decorated with palm-branches. The men appear to be the suitors of a rich widow. Cf. BMSat 9822."--British Museum online catalogue