Count Franz Deym, 'Austro-Hungary'

Leslie Ward ('Spy') renders Count Franz Deym—Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to London—in confident profile, one hand in pocket, the other raising a small cigar with patrician ease. The caption 'Austro-Hungary' identifies him by empire rather than name, a Vanity Fair convention that flatters its subject as the embodiment of a great power. Deym negotiated delicate Anglo-Austrian relations during a period of European alliance-building, and Ward captures the diplomat's role perfectly: the frock coat is impeccable, the posture unhurried, the gaze self-possessed. The caricature exaggerates his broad nose and heavy moustache without descending into the grotesque.