Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

The theme of chaos in the dining room was one which Rowlandson drew on a number of occasions. A watercolour similar to the present work and entitled Mad Dog in a Dining Room depicting a similar enraged figure wielding a knife with a dog peering out from under the table was engraved. Another watercolour entitled The disappointed Epicures show a dog upsetting a waiter as he enters the room (see J. Hayes, Rowlandson's Watercolours and Drawings, London, 1972, no. 45, illustrated).