Title from caption below image.
Text below caption title: The King -- Corinthian ; an elegant Female -- Composite ; the Nobleman -- Doric ; a Member of the University -- Ionic ; and the Buck of Fashion -- Tuscan. On the left hand may be seen a specimen of the Exquisite, a new order in high estimation at the west end of the Town; and on the right hand stands an old order of some solidity in the eastern parts of the Metropolis. Fashion, Taste, and Fame, are emblematical of the varied pursuits of life ; while the Army and Navy of the country are the capitals that crown the superstructure, combining the ornamental with the useful.
Detached from The English spy: an original work, characteristic, satirical, and humorous. Comprising scenes and sketches in every rank of society, being portraits of the illustrious, eminent, eccentric, and notorious. London: Published by Sherwood, Jones, And Co., Paternoster-Row, 1825.
Trimmed to within plate mark, discarding title, artist, and engraver statements.
Five principal figures stand in front of a semicircle of columns -- one woman and four men, including a university scholar and King George IV. The end columns of the crescent are labeled at the top "Navy" (left) and "Army" (right), and in front of each of these is a plinth with an additional male figure atop it, labeled "West Order" (left) and "East Order" (right). On top of the columns is a pediment labeled "Temple of Life", and sitting on it are a woman and a man (she holds a hand mirror, he a framed picture) labeled "Fashion" and "Taste", respectively. Atop the Navy and Army columns stand officers of each, and an angel with a trumpet in each hand hovers above the scene. Several London landmarks are visible in the background, including St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey.