Dinners Drest in the Neatest Manner October 1811 Thomas Rowlandson Rowlandson addresses the dilemma faced by all who dine out–the mystery of what takes place behind a closed kitchen door. The title restates the hollow promise made to patrons of an inn, whose kitchen we see in operation. Instead of clean food neatly prepared, a grotesque one-eyed cook rolls out a meat pie while bedewing the dish with rheum dripping from his nose and mouth, the stream stimulated by snuff held in a small round box. The slovenly standards of the kitchen extend to a maid with an exposed breast who reaches for a dis

Dinners Drest in the Neatest Manner October 1811 Thomas Rowlandson Rowlandson addresses the dilemma faced by all who dine out–the mystery of what takes place behind a closed kitchen door. The title restates the hollow promise made to patrons of an inn, whose kitchen we see in operation. Instead of clean food neatly prepared, a grotesque one-eyed cook rolls out a meat pie while bedewing the dish with rheum dripping from his nose and mouth, the stream stimulated by snuff held in a small round box. The slovenly standards of the kitchen extend to a maid with an exposed breast who reaches for a dish and fails to notice rats escaping from it. While Rowlandson trained at the Royal Academy and could produce sophisticated Rococo compositions, he was also a master of ribaldry. Most of his prints in this vein were issued by Thomas Tegg, a London print publisher, who sold the present example for a Dinners Drest in the Neatest Manner. Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London). October 1811. Hand-colored etching. Thomas Tegg (British, 1776–1846). Prints

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