Dram-a-tic demireps at their morning rehearsal [graphic].Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, printmaker[not before 30 September 1810]eng"In a sordid room four women begin the day by dram-drinking. An ugly elderly woman sits up in a half-tester bed; a pretty young one, naked except for a cloak, night-cap, and slippers, crouches in a chair over a few sticks burning on a flat hearth; another supports herself by leaning across a table. All look towards the fourth who wears a hat and cloak, and approaches from the right with a bottle and glass. The objects in the room denote squalor. An open book on the ground is 'The Chapter of Accidents' [a popular comedy by Sophia Lee, 1780]; a dog has a collar inscribed 'Romeo'; an empty tankard on the floor is inscribed 'Drury Lane'. On the wall is a placard headed 'For the Benefit of the Theatrical Fund' [the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund (still in existence) was founded in 1776]. Other prints on the wall: 'Dirty Peg & the Duke' [two heads kissing, one probably the Duke of York]; 'Bald as a Coote' [the profile head of a disconsolate man, probably General Sir Eyre Coote (1762-1823) who besieged Flushing in 1809, see British Museum Satires no. 11364, &c.]; 'Little Darby O' [a recognizable caricature head of Lord Derby, who married the actress Eliza Farren, see British Museum Satires no. 9074, &c]; 'Ever Craving' [a caricature profile, probably of Lord Craven (1770-1825), who married the actress Louisa Brunton in 1807]; 'Old Q' [a similar profile of Queensberry]. On the projection that forms a chimney-piece is a jug inscribed 'Alamode Beef Jug', a melon inscribed 'Rotten Ripe' [probably indicating Harriot Mellon], and a bust presumably of Whitefield inscribed 'Doctor Squintum' [from Foote's 'Minor']; over his head are the words 'Bang up to the Mark' [cf. British Museum Satires no. 11700]. Tallow dips hang from a nail and on the ground 'Duplicates' [pawn-tickets] are spiked on a file. A gridiron and saucepan stand on the hearth, a bowl of 'Saloup' on the table. A broken bellows is on the ground."--British Museum online catalogue, description of an earlier stateTitle etched below image.Printmaker from description of earlier state in the British Museum catalogue.Later state, with first half of imprint statement burnished from plate.Date of publication based on complete imprint from earlier state: Pubd. Sept. 30th, 1810, by Thos. Tegg, No. 111 Cheapside. Cf. No. 11628 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 8."Price one shilling coloured."Plate numbered "10" in upper right corner.Plate from: Woodward, G.M. Caricature magazine, or Hudibrastic mirror. London : Thomas Tegg, [1808?], v. 1.Also issued separately.Sheet trimmed within plate mark on top edge.Cf. Grego, J. Rowlandson the caricaturist, v. 2, page 191.Temporary local subject terms: Grill -- Fireplace -- Half tester bed -- Bald as a coote.