Hogarth's House: Drunk For A Penny. London Luminaries - Food and Drink. Talk by John Collins

This talk by Hogarth's House is the first in the London Luminaries series 4 entitled Hogarth's House: Drunk for A Penny. The talk is given by John Collins.

William Hogarth’s work is full of depictions of drinking from people across society. In this talk we will explore the drinks, both alcoholic and not that are depicted in Hogarth’s works and explore their effect on society as well as the artist himself.

John Collins is the Senior Manager for Historic Houses at the London Borough of Hounslow and has overseen Hogarth’s House since it reopened to the public after a major refurbishment in 2011. Most recently John has been a key figure in the Mulberry Garden project at Hogarth’s House, a five year National Lottery Heritage Fund funded scheme which saw a new learning studio built and a redesigned exhibition garden both open to the public in 2021. Before this John was Community Development Manager at Imperial War Museum North and has a background in the field of community engagement with historic sites and their collections.

In our own times, issues of the sustainability of food production and equity of its distribution are hot topics. In this series of 14 talks, we explore how food was produced and consumed in the past by our Luminaries to help inform discussions on the future of food and drink. Much food was produced locally; great houses such as Chiswick House and Fulham Palace had their own kitchen gardens and Alexander Pope boasted of the sources of his meat supply: ‘To Hounslow Heath I point, and Banstead-Down, / Thence comes your Mutton, and these chicks my own.’ Yet modern luxuries such as tea and coffee stretched supply chains around the globe. Wining and dining also provided hosts with opportunities to display their hospitality and particular taste through the choice of menu and table setting.

This varied banquet of 14 talks thus also explore cultural dimensions of food and drink.