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HomeVanity Fair: Men of the DayMen of the Day: The Vanity Fair Caricatures › Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford
Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford by "ATn"  Alfred Thompson
Public domain · digitally restored by ComicBooks.com
Men of the Day: The Vanity Fair Caricatures

Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford

"ATn" Alfred Thompson · Vanity Fair, 5 February 1870

Alfred Thompson's chromolithograph presents Lord Chelmsford — Lord Chancellor under Derby and Disraeli — as a stout, self-satisfied figure in a rust-brown overcoat, double-breasted waistcoat, and top hat held at his side. The crown device in the upper corner signals his peerage. Plate 66 in the Statesmen series, it is captioned: "It is hardly to be believed that two political leaders should fall out only because their wives cannot agree" — a waspish allusion to the personal friction between Disraeli and Derby, implying their quarrel was drawing-room gossip dressed up as high politics. Chelmsford's heavy-jowled, slightly pop-eyed rendering is typical period caricature, with physicality enlisted to suggest pomposity and comfortable irrelevance.

About this artifact

Creator
"ATn" Alfred Thompson
Date
Vanity Fair, 5 February 1870
Rights
Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
Restoration
Digitally restored and hosted by ComicBooks.com.

Part of our mission to preserve and restore the public-domain heritage of the medium.