Fancy a Flutter?

I bet you knew I'd get to gambling sooner or later.  In fact, I'd put money on it (oh, la, the irony!)  It's hardly surprising really, as the Victorians were a little obsessed with gambling because it touched on two major concerns, namely the acquisition of wealth, therefore progress in society, and the uncertain outcome and ruin precipitating a speedy exit from decency.  We're probably no better now, but for the moth-like Victorians the double-edged sword of gaining and losing money was an irresistible flame, and so its place in imagery of the era was assured.

The Derby Day (1858) William Powell Frith

Righty-ho and off we go, and of course I am going to start with The Derby Day.  If you have ever been fortunate enough to study Victorian Art/Read a book on Victorian Art/See a TV programme about Victorian Art, you must have seen bloody The Derby Day, which is almost damn near impossible to use as an illustration for a blog, because it's so very long.  What The Derby Day neatly illustrates is the span of feeling about horse-racing, possibly the most 'decent' of all gambling activities because it involves nice hats and animals.  See, if the men involved in the following image had been wearing nice hats, we'd feel different...

The Cock Fight (1889) Remy Cogghe

Sorry, but a top hat is not fancy enough, plus you are watching two chickens scrapping and exchanging money.  I'll pass.  Anyway, back to The Derby Day.  It is a painting that is intended to be read like a book, with many incidents all interconnected and relating to the central theme: that gambling is a slippery slope that you perch, on wearing rollerskates.  There is glamour in the shape of the acrobat and his son, central to the canvas, attracting the gaze of the smocked yokel on the far left.  By the acrobat, leading your gaze with the paleness of their clothes, are the wealthy couple.  What our rural chap is missing is the young man near him who looks decidedly down on his luck.  He should also look closer and notice that the young man near the front has no shoes.  On the far right, a swanky couple get bothered by beggars, which seems to worry the woman more than her fancy-pants husband.  Mind you, here we find a touchstone to the gambling picture, the concerned female...

The Gambler's Wife (1885) Marcus Stone

A neat little sub-genre of the gambling picture is the 'Won't someone think of the wife (and kids)?' image, as shown above.  Mr Gambling Man sits around wasting all the family money while his wife waits, all miserable.  For the love of God, woman, sit where he can see your sour face and it might make him think twice, or at least put him off his game.  Millais also produced a work of the same title, showing the impact of such irresponsible fun-making on the nearest and dearest. 

If it isn't cards, then it's horses...

The Last Day in the Old Home (1862) Robert Braithwaite Martineau

Mr Martineau brings us the sobering tale of a posh family, gone to the dogs, because of the gentleman's love of the gee-gees.  His gambling habit is hinted at by the painting on the left, being sold off along with everything else, as the gentleman and his son raise a glass to their lost fortune.  The wife seems to be rather pathetically saying 'Could you not do that, dear?' while her daughter hangs on to her doll for dear life, just in case that gets sold off as well.  Martineau's gentleman's fate was rumoured to reflect that of the Duke of Buckingham, who had run up a debt of a million pounds by 1847, when bailiffs came and took possession of his effects.  He died in disgrace in 1861, the year before this painting was exhibited.

The public were getting a taste for stories of how the rich and famous gambled with their fortunes, especially if they lost.  In 1891, the Prince of Wales found himself entangled in the 'Tranby Croft Affair', where a guest at a country house party was accused of cheating while playing baccarat.  The guest was exposed and forced to promise he would never play cards for money again.  While this was scandal enough, what really got the public in an uproar was that not only did the heir to the throne gamble at cards, he did it often enough to have his own crested counters for wagering at backgammon.

The Salon d'Or, Homburg (1871) William Powell Frith

The glamour of a gaming table is lost on Mr and Mrs Frith, who stand behind the gentleman in the camel-coloured jacket at the gaming table. They look outraged by the disgusting amount of fun and cravats on show.  Fair enough, it's not the cravats, but one things is for sure, William Powell Frith was never going to end his days sipping champagne among the ruins of his life...

The Road to Ruin: College (1878) William Powell Frith

As a homage/tribute to The Rake's Progress by Hogarth, Frith did two series about the dangers of fun living.  In The Road to Ruin, our young gambler has played through the night, drinking champagne.  The horror!  Nothing good will come of it...

The Road to Ruin: Arrest

I hate to say 'I told you so', however here we find our grown-up gambler in a whole lot of trouble while his wife and children look on.  Much like Martineau, Frith shows our young man being very nonchalant in the face of disgrace, smoking a cigarette and wearing his dressing gown.  The cad!

Well, we knew it wouldn't end well...

Innocents and Card Sharpers Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier

It's funny how the Victorians also had a tendency to show their gambling tableau in the context of a previous era, most notably the Cavaliers, who (as I have previously mentioned) were exceedingly naughty (mmm, nice boots).  Above, you see a bunch of gentlemen playing cards, but some of them aren't being honest in their dealings.  Why must there always be booze?  We all know this will end in tears...

The End of the Game of Cards Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier

By 'tears' I obviously mean bodies on the floor.  Goodness me, this is not good at all, unless the definition of a good time is 'a fifth of your party end up dead'.  Well, we know that Cavalier loved to party hearty...

Cleaned Out (1868) John Pettie

If it's any comfort, Love, at least you're still alive.  We've met this chap before, and he represents the outcome of profuse amounts of jollity (down with that sort of thing) and looks like he's got very sober, very quick.  In the shadows, with the debris of his cards and dice devastation around him, the destruction of this man's life is written on his face.  Just wait until his wife hears...

To sum up, don't gamble, you won't win and before you know it, you're sat on a packing case, clutching a glass of champagne in one hand and a gun in the other, attempting not to get the two mixed up.  Take Mr Frith's advice and stay well clear.

By the way, I almost called this piece 'I'll Toss You for It', but that always leads to all kinds of trouble, so I didn't.  See how mature I've become? *snigger*