The artist of this satirical print, Ensign Abraham James, served in the British Army as an officer of the 67th Foot from 1798-1823. The regiment was posted to Jamaica between 1799-1801, garrisoned at Spanish Town, the capital of the island and the seat of government. During this time James produced a series of caricatures which were published in London from 1802. They satirized creole life in general and Spanish Town 'society' in particular. Historian James Robertson suggests that this image probably depicts the town's Assembly Rooms, nominally a resort for genteel society. He observes too that "the publication of Abraham James' cartoons of Jamaican life in London demonstrated a wide interest in West Indian scenes and highlighted the differences between creole lifestyles and English customs. They were published by a printseller whose publications generally had a radical slant." [ref. James Robertson "Gone is the ancient glory: Spanish Town, Jamaica, 1534-2000", Ian Randle Publishers, 2005 pp.124-125] Another historian, Roger Norman Buckley, suggests that James was probably critical of slavery and the coarse customs and manners of the local plantation elite. [ref: The British Army in the West Indies, University Press of Florida, 1998, pp.179-181]
This print differs in some details of colouring from other known versions. That held in the British Museum collection, for example, has the tablecloth and louvered windows coloured green and the candles shown lit. There are also some variations in the colouring of the dresses and trousers of the civilians.The copy in the Lewis Walpole Library Collection of Yale University Library has other variations, with one of the women and four of the men (including the naval officer) dressed in blue:
Lewis Walpole Library [MM March 2011]
