Beefsteak Club acquire Mercier Gambling Den
February 1 2025
Picture: Dickinson
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The London dealers Simon C Dickinson Ltd have announced their sale of Philippe Mercier's The Hazard Table to the historic Beefsteak Club.
According to the text from their Instagram post:
Influenced by Hogarth’s The Rake Progress, Mercier shows a moment of high drama, with a man jestering in despair having just squandered a fortune. Surmounting the chimney piece is a bust of Mercury, the god of financial gain and fraud and trickery, aptly surveying the gambling club below.
As part of our research we discovered that the picture was owned by three members of the original Beefsteak Club, and hung at the Bedford Arms in Covent Garden, where the original patriotic dining club, including Hogarth himself, met to dine on beef steaks every Saturday.
I had the chance to see the painting in person at the end of last year. It's an impressive work and filled with many curious pentimenti which shows Mercier must have laboured over many of the small details found within the picture.
