Original artwork, not a still
The Conduct of Life ‧ 1860
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker connects increasingly loud claims of honour with an increasingly hurried count of the spoons. The listeners apparently suspect that their possessions need watching. The joke sets a declaration of virtue against a small domestic act of mistrust, making the response more telling than a direct accusation.
Context reviewed
