2/2010
Collection
Paintings, Prints and Drawings
Brief description
‘Christmas Pie or Richard’s Choice’, a broadside ballad illustrated with a scene in a kitchen, coloured aquatint, published in London by Haines & Sons, 29 April 1795.
Title
The Christmas Pie or Richard's Choice
Object name
broadside
Object number
2/2010
Production organisation
Haines & Son (publisher)
Production date
1795 (published)
Production place
London (published)
Period
Georgian (1714-1837)
Material
paper
Technique
printed
Physical description
A broadside, coloured aquatint on paper with printed title, poem and publication line below the image. It has been trimmed and is mounted on card.
Content description
The aquatint illustrates the verse The Christmas Pie or Richard’s choice, rhyming couplets printed at the bottom of the page telling the story of the character Richard who enrages the cook Kitty by upsetting her Christmas Pie onto the floor, then attempts to eat it, at which point she smears his face with the “luscious grease”, and the dog, busy eating the pie, promptly bites his nose, while the squire looks on and laughs.
The aquatint shows Kitty and Richard tussling on the floor of a kitchen, with the dog eating the broken pie from the bare floorboards, and a dropped knife with a scimitar-style blade and pistol handle in front of them. The squire leans against a dresser stacked with shelves of plates and platters, a kettle and pots beneath, with a lattice window in the wall next to the dresser. On the back wall is an open meat cupboard with sides of meat and two dead birds drooping from the top shelf. A cat stands on a drop-leaf table beneath two bracket shelves that hold a teapot and bowls and plates, intent on the unguarded haunches of meat.
The aquatint shows Kitty and Richard tussling on the floor of a kitchen, with the dog eating the broken pie from the bare floorboards, and a dropped knife with a scimitar-style blade and pistol handle in front of them. The squire leans against a dresser stacked with shelves of plates and platters, a kettle and pots beneath, with a lattice window in the wall next to the dresser. On the back wall is an open meat cupboard with sides of meat and two dead birds drooping from the top shelf. A cat stands on a drop-leaf table beneath two bracket shelves that hold a teapot and bowls and plates, intent on the unguarded haunches of meat.
Content object
knife
plate
kettle
saucepan
platter
bowl
sauceboat
teapot
dresser
cupboard
shelf
drop-leaf table
plate
kettle
saucepan
platter
bowl
sauceboat
teapot
dresser
cupboard
shelf
drop-leaf table
Dimensions
Height: 36.9cm
Width: 26.9cm
Width: 26.9cm
Website keywords
images of kitchens
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© Museum of the Home, London
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© Museum of the Home, London
