Battle of Waterloo 200, Magna Carta 800

June 18 is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and the defeat of Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington celebrated his victory with an annual dinner.

The Waterloo Banquet was held at his Apsley House in London every year with his officers and honored guests until his death.  

AND  June 15 is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. This is a busy week of big events.

The first picture is a close-up showing the 1836 Waterloo Banquet with the King seated to the right of Wellington.  The centerpiece and mirrored plateau can be seen, sort of, in this study/rough draft (entire painting below, click to enlarge) of the painting by William Salter which is now at Apsley House. 

 

Engravings were made of the original painting. Another closeup of the dining equipment, from the print at the National Army Museum, 1846:

There is an interesting article, "Recreating the Duke of Wellington's victory banquet, 200 years on...his descendant is reviving the tradition" from The Telegraph June 2, 2015 with pictures of some of Ivan Day's culinary creations, HERE

A little bit about the White House Plateau of President Monroe HERE

©2015 Patricia Bixler Reber
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