In Tate Britain
Prints and Drawings Room
View by appointment- Artist
- Thomas Rowlandson 1756–1827
- Medium
- Graphite, ink and watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 219 × 348 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1996
- Reference
- T08551
Display caption
This gentle satire shows a public eating house or 'ordinary', where a meal was provided at a fixed time and a set price. Needless to say, the atmosphere is chaotic. The diners eagerly attack the food, tussling with their neighbours to get their fill. A print from Rowlandson's drawing was published in 1811. There, the eating house is identified as Hornsey Wood House, which offered an 'ordinary' on Sundays at 2 pm: 'Hot roast and boiled from two to five/ Dinners drest on the shortest notice'.
Gallery label, September 2004
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
Explore
- interiors(4,628)
-
- places of entertainment(400)
-
- restaurant(74)
- eating and drinking(744)
-
- eating(231)
- animals: mammals(4,878)
-
- dog - non-specific(1,043)
- clothing and personal items(5,877)
-
- hat(1,444)
- fireplace(103)
- actions: expressive(2,630)
-
- talking(608)
- man(10,478)
- group(4,247)
- social comment(6,603)
-
- caricature(360)
- satire(265)
- crime and punishment(433)
-
- lawyer(160)
You might like
-
Thomas Rowlandson A Two O’Clock Ordinary
1811 -
Thomas Rowlandson September the First
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson The Mansion House Monitor. An Accusing Ghost at a Dinner Table
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson The Tables Turned
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson A Meal at Squire Worthy’s
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Castle and Bridge, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Sir Joseph Banks about to Eat an Alligator (‘The Fish Supper’)
1788 -
Thomas Rowlandson Two Women Sewing by Candlelight
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Cows in a Wood
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Longways Dance
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Queen Anne’s Bounty: Triplets
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Longways Dance
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Longways Dance
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson The Lover. Verso: Half Length Portrait of a Pretty Woman
date not known -
Thomas Rowlandson Apelles Singling Beauties from a Variety of Models
date not known