Smithfield Market is the main meat market for London and is most active throughout the night when the dead animals are unloaded from lorries by meat porters in blood smeared white overalls and caps. Four such burly men are depicted here reading a newspaper, smoking and drinking tea. Their crude gestures and rough banter belie a gentler side as displayed to the waitresses, who in turn treat them with maternal affection. To the side, observing all, sits the artist sketching the scene. Paul Houlton