A little music - or - the delights of harmony

Gillray, James, 1756-1815 · May 20, 1810

A young woman plays the piano (right) with painful intentness, and sings, as does the man who holds open her music-book. A middle-aged military officer stands full face playing the flute. A fat elderly 'cit' sleeps in an arm-chair (left). His wig has fallen off and his legs rest on another chair. Behind him a very obese man and an ugly and over-dressed woman with a grotesquely thin neck sing from the same piece of music. He warms his back at a blazing fire. The feathers in her hair are alight in one of the candles on the chimney-piece. A small boy blows a toy trumpet, a dog howls and a cat miaows, standing on an open music-book. Chinese figures on the chimney-piece and the lintel of the door represent comic musicians playing different instruments (BM). / A most decidedly musical party. It is evident that the snoring of he old gentleman chimes in with the harmony of the whole, quite as well as the canine and feline duo from the floor (Wright/Evans).