The Siege of Namur by Captain Shandy and Corporal Trim from Tristram Shandy

The lot offered here depicts Uncle Toby who is Tristram Shandy's uncle, and brother to Walter Shandy. After sustaining a groin-wound in battle, he retires to a life of obsessive attention to the history and science of military fortifications. His temperament is gentle and sentimental. Accompanying him is his manservant and sidekick Corporal Trim, or James Butler. Trim colludes with Captain Toby in his military shenanigans, but his own favourite hobby is advising people, especially if it allows him to make eloquent speeches.
The pair are re-enacting the Seige of Namur (1695) which occurred during the Nine Years War in what is modern day Brussels. Uncle Toby is seen marching, with a crutch under his left arm, pointing with his right crutch towards the fortifications built on the bowling green, where the gate of St. Nicolas is flanked on each side by a jack-boot. In his left hand he holds the London Gazette. Trim, holding up a pickaxe, marches in front of his master. Shandy Hall appears behind the Gate of St. Nicolas.