What are conversation pieces in William Hogarth’s paintings?

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The Painter and His Pug, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on canvas, 1745; in the Tate Gallery, London. — William Hogarth *The Painter and His Pug*, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on canvas, 1745; in the Tate Gallery, London.

In the context of William Hogarth’s career, "conversation pieces" refer to small, informal group portraits. These paintings depict groups of people within their customary surroundings.123

Following his early success with The Beggar’s Opera (1728), which featured portraits of actors and spectators in a realistic setting, Hogarth produced these small-scale works during the years immediately following his debut. While these paintings helped him gain an appreciative and wealthy clientele, Hogarth eventually grew tired of them, as they required numerous portraits for relatively low pay, and he shifted his focus toward humorous, narrative scenes of everyday life.21