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A priest taking morning tea with a lady in her boudoir: a maidservant stands in the background. Engraving by Remi Parr after N. Lancret.

Two Chinese opium smokers in a booth watched by a woman who fans herself. Wood-engraving, late 19th century.

The interior of a dingy smoke den where groups of men smoke, drink and play cards. Engraving by F. del Pedro, 18th century, after a painting by D. Teniers, the younger.

A French hospital for wounded soldiers, World War I: patients seated at the dinner table as a nurse brings steaming food. Colour lithograph after L. Ibels, 1916.

The west dining hall, Greenwich, in the crypt below the Painted Hall, full of Pensioners eating dinner. Coloured lithograph by W. Bligh Barker after himself.

A Dutch man and woman sit at a table in a summer house; he smokes a pipe. Engraving by S. Springsguth, c. 1792, after P.P. Benazech.

A man sits by a fireplace lighting his pipe with an ember while a servant girl brings his drink. Lithograph by F. Hanfstaengl after G. Metsu.

The Asylum for Female Orphans, Lambeth: the interior of the dining room. Coloured aquatint by Hill, 1808, after A.C. Pugin and T. Rowlandson.

Men playing backgammon outside in an arbor, nearby others smoke and drink. Etching by J. de Visscher after A. van Ostade.

A drunken party with men smoking, sleeping and falling to the floor. Engraving by W. Hogarth, 1731, after himself.

The English table in history and literature / by Charles Cooper.

Four Flemish men smoke and drink in a dingy smoke den, a man leans on the wall behind. Engraving by L. Lempereur, late 18th century, after a painting by D. Teniers, the younger.

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The interior of a dingy smoke den where groups of men smoke, drink and play cards. Engraving by F. del Pedro, 18th century, after a painting by D. Teniers, the younger.

The English table in history and literature / by Charles Cooper.

Four Flemish men smoke and drink in a dingy smoke den, a man leans on the wall behind. Engraving by L. Lempereur, late 18th century, after a painting by D. Teniers, the younger.

Men playing backgammon outside in an arbor, nearby others smoke and drink. Etching by J. de Visscher after A. van Ostade.

A priest taking morning tea with a lady in her boudoir: a maidservant stands in the background. Engraving by Remi Parr after N. Lancret.