Mr. Corney Grain

Spy's lithograph captures Richard Corney Grain mid-performance: a heavyset man in white tie and black tailcoat seated at a piano, one hand still on the keys while the other gestures upward with theatrical openness, head tilted back and eyes half-closed in song or recitation. The caption reads Mr. Corney Grain, August 22 1885. There is no political argument here — this is affectionate celebrity portraiture. Grain had abandoned a barrister's career for the German Reed Entertainments, where his piano-accompanied comic monologues made him a drawing-room institution. Spy exaggerates his considerable bulk with characteristic warmth, making corpulence itself a sign of conviviality rather than a target of ridicule.