The procession and Ceremonies...Installation of the Knights Companions of ...Order of the Bath . with Arms, Names, Titles... 1730

John Pine created this engraving, "The procession and Ceremonies...Installation of the Knights Companions of ...Order of the Bath . with Arms, Names, Titles...", capturing a specific moment in British history. Pine, working in the 18th century, lived in a society rigidly stratified by class, where ceremony and heraldry were potent symbols of power and status. This print meticulously documents a feast, laying it out for us in a diagrammatic format. The dishes aren't just food, they are statements, announcing the wealth and taste of the order. The inclusion of exotic dishes would speak to England’s burgeoning empire and its access to global resources, reinforcing a sense of national pride and dominance. Consider the emotional weight of such displays of power. What did it mean to be included—or excluded—from these rituals? Pine’s engraving invites us to reflect on the complex interplay between food, power, and identity in 18th-century Britain.