A caricature of the new Lord Mayor of London: Harvey Combe stands centerd in the a hall, surrounded by a desperate looking group of people both rich and poor, who kneel and beg. A skeletal man (buthcher?) holds a knife in one hand and a scroll in the other enscribed with a large order for meat: “12 haundres vension, 6 necks do., 8 turtles, 20 brace partridges, 20 pheasants, 20 brace woodcocks, 16 sirloins beef bacon(?) &””. In the foreground lies another sheet which readss “Tripe Soup. Liver & Crow. Fried Tripe. Bill of Fare for 8 Novr.” The outgoing Lord Mayor, Sir Richard Glyn, who was notoriously spendthrift during his period in office, is seen being kicked out of the Mansion House holding large money bag with the word “Saving” written on it. The two cats on the left and the dog following the butcher are also thin from malnorishment. Two large spiders have spun large webs below the archway on the left below a two cupids holding a heart molded above the archway.
- Artist: Nixon, John, -1818, artist.
- Title: Hospitality kicking avarice out of doors, or, New tenants at a mansion house [art original] / J.N. 1799.
- Production: [England], [1799]
Catalog Record
Drawings N736 no. 8 Box D305
Acquired November 2018
A scene in a sitting room, a man in a fit of anger kicks over a chair and table set with tea; a pitcher, cups and saucers, tongs and other tableware are in flight or shattered on the floor. The man holds his wig in his left hand as a woman looks on with fear. Two cats fight in front of a fireplace above which hangs a seascape with rough waters and lightening. On the back wall another painting shows a man standing over a woman.
