TAKE THE SOUP
INK ON PAPER
22"x30"
This drawing uses Aesop’s fable, The Jackdaw and the Peacock, to illustrate a trade-off that is often required to get something. In the fable, the unrefined jackdaw tries to fit in among the classy peacocks by placing beautiful peacock feathers among their own ugly black ones, but is ultimately rejected by the peacocks and scorned by their fellow jackdaws. In the context of the drawing, the jackdaws represent Catholics seeking assistance (soup) from Protestants (the peacocks). The "trade-off" depicted is the explicit requirement to convert to Protestantism to receive aid. The phrase "taking the soup" was a demeaning contemporary term used by Catholics to ridicule fellow Catholics or "soupers" who converted.
During the Irish Famine, Quakers were early leaders, establishing effective soup kitchens. However, the British government, wary of encouraging idleness, first pushed public works before reluctantly adopting soup kitchens modeled on Quaker success. These kitchens provided soup for up to 3 million daily only in the summer of 1847.
With showmanship befitting a celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer transformed soup distribution into a public spectacle; a grand tent housed timed feedings for 100 poor individuals at a time, served from chained bowls, with a bell signaling their rapid departure for a biscuit and a new group's arrival. Paying spectators were invited to watch from bleachers, showcasing his genius for affordable, tasty food in a theatrical display of charity.
