Beefsteak Club is the name or nickname of several 18th- and 19th-century male dining clubs in Britain and Australia that celebrated the beefsteak as a symbol of patriotic and often Whig concepts of liberty and prosperity.
The present-day Beefsteak Club, Irving Street, London
Badge of the Sublime Society: a gridiron and the motto "Beef and Liberty"
1793 press report – "Club" and "Society" are used interchangeably
Dining room at the Lyceum, used by the Sublime Society and later by Henry Irving. The kitchen is at the rear, beyond the gridiron-shaped grating.
John Rich (1692–1761) was an important director and theatre manager in 18th-century London. He opened The New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1714, which he managed until he built the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1732. He managed Covent Garden until 1761, putting on ever more lavish productions. He popularised pantomime on the English stage and played a dancing and mute Harlequin himself from 1717 to 1760 under the stage name of "Lun." Rich's version of the servant character, Arlecchino, moved away from the poor, dishevelled, loud, and crude character, to a colourfully-dressed, silent Harlequin, performing fanciful tricks, dances and magic. Rich's decision to be a silent character was influenced by his unappealing voice, of which he was well aware, and the British idea of the Harlequin character was heavily inspired by Rich's performances.
John Rich, as shown in the catalogue raisonné of William Hogarth
John Rich, from a print produced in 1750
Rich as Harlequin, c. 1720
"Rich's Glory": John Rich takes over (seemingly invades) his new Covent Garden Theatre. (Hogarth caricature)