Set of three caricatures of Indian rulers from Vanity Fair
a) Spy, pseudonym: Sir Leslie Ward, Nawab Sir Salar Jung KCSI, Caption reads 'An Indian Statesman'
1876
Chromolithograph on paper
Print size: 13.25 x 7.25 in (33.5 x 18.3 cm)
Sheet size: 13.75 x 9.25 in (35.2 x 23.2 cm)
Published in Vanity Fair, London, October 14, 1876
The Vanity Fair caricatures have become widely know as "Spy" prints due to the 1325 caricatures drawn by Sir Leslie Ward, who was a fixture at Vanity Fair for over 40 years. Ward and editor Bowles picked the name "Spy" from the dictionary to become Ward's nom de crayon. Many also cite Ward's propensity for methodical study of his 'victims' for many hours before beginning preliminary sketches as the real reason the name "Spy" stuck.
b) Alfred Thompson, pseudonym: Thompson E. Jones, Sovereigns No.8: Caricature of The Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Behar and Orissa. Caption reads: 'A living monument of English injustice.'
1870
Chromolithograph on paper
13.5 x 8.75 in (34.6 x 22 cm)
Published in Vanity Fair, London, April 16, 1870
c) Anonymous, Princes No.24: Caricature of The Maharajah of Cuch Behar. Caption reads: 'Cuch Behar'
1901
Chromolithograph on paper
Print size: 14.75 x 8.25 in (37.2 x 20.8 cm)
Sheet size: 15 x 9.5 in (38.4 x 24 cm)
Published in Vanity Fair, December 26, 1901
"For nearly fifty years, from 1868 to 1914, Vanity Fair displayed its political, social and literary wares weekly for the nineteenth-century Pilgrim. Inviting its readers to recognize the vanities of human existence, the publication, through its original format, prose and coloured caricatures, became the envy and model of other Society magazines. The most successful Society magazine in the history of English journalism was the result of the guiding genius of its founder and editor, Thomas Gibson Bowles (1842-1922), set against a background of historical circumstances ranging from the more mundane - technological breakthroughs in printing and lithography - to the sublime, the British Empire at its height.
Written by and for the Victorian and Edwardian establishment, Vanity Fair was the magazine for those "in the know." Members of the Smart Set delighted in finding themselves caricatured in prose and picture. For them, Vanity Fair summarized each week the importantly events of their world. It reviewed the newest opening in the West End and the latest novel in the club's library; it aroused their curiosity and envy; it angered and amused them.
The news and Society columns, the book and play reviews, the serialized novels and word games and the colour lithograph caricatures give us a glimpse into the lives and reputations of men and women who achieved either lasting or fleeting fame and fortune during the heyday of the British Empire. The caricatures, which have become the magazine's chief legacy, fascinate the scholar, the lay person and the collector for their historical and biographical value and their satirical and artistic quality. Although Vanity Fair is best remembered for these chromolithographic caricatures, the magazine was, at its zenith, recognized and respected in its totality - for its features, prose, advertising and format.......At first some people were reluctant to be seen in the pages of Vanity Fair. However, as the popularity of the caricatures grew, they became less hesitant. In succeeding years, it became a mark of recognition to be the 'victim' of one of the caricaturists hired by Bowles".(Source: darvillsrareprints, online)
(Set of three)
These works will be shipped unframed
NON-EXPORTABLE