The Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters
Sol Eytinge
Wood engraving
7.5 cm wide by 10.1 cm high
Illustration for chapter 6 of Dickens's Our Mutual Friend in the Lee & Shepard (Boston), and Charles T. Dillingham (New York) 1870 Illustrated Household Edition.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
"Now, you mind, you Riderhood," said Miss Abbey Potterson, with emphatic forefinger over the half-door, "the Fellowships don't want you at all, and would rather by far have your room than your company; but if you were as welcome here as you are not, you shouldn't even then have another drop of drink here this night, after this present pint of beer. So make the most of it." . . . .[39]
Abbey, the supreme[,] . . . was a tall, upright, well-favoured woman, though severe of countenance, and had more of the air of a schoolmistress than mistress of the Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters. The man on the other side of the half-door, was a waterside-man with a squinting leer, and he eyed her as if he were one of her pupils in disgrace. . . . [39]
In such an establishment, the white-aproned pot-boy, with his shirt=sleeves arranged in a tight roll on each bare shoulder, was a mere hint of the possibility of physical force, thrown out as a matter of state and form. Exactly at the clsing hour, all the guests who were left, filed out in the best order: Miss Abbey standing at thew half-door of the bar, to hold a ceremony of review and dismissal. All wished Miss Abbey good-night and Miss Abbey wished good-night to all, except Riderhood. [41]
Rather than attempting to capture a single textual moment, Eytinge here synthesizes material from several scenes in the waterside public house, eliminating the half-door of the bar and representing both Riderhood's remonstrance and closing time, prior to sending the pot-boy, Bob Glibbery (left), to fetch Lizzie Hexam. For the whole range of beverages available, Eytinge uses a visual metonymy: a mug, a pipe, and a wine glass on the bare wooden table. Note the gas jet burning just above the pot-boy, a detail added by Eytinge to explain the illumination of the night scene. No wonder, then, that having visually realized this disreputable establishment, Eytinge sought out such places in the East of London in in May- June 1869 visit.
Last modified 23 October 2010