George Payne ('G.P.')

Pellegrini's chromolithograph reduces the celebrated racing man and philanthropist George Payne to two initials and a single posture: top-hatted, brown-coated, opera-glasses raised, scanning what we can only assume is a racecourse. The caption 'G.P.' relies on readers knowing exactly who those initials belong to — a measure of Payne's social fame. The caricature exaggerates his jowly profile and hunched intensity without ethnic distortion; its comedy is purely of class and obsession, the English gentleman whose entire being is concentrated on the turf. Pellegrini's signature 'Ape' sits lower right. No satirical text accompanies the plate, letting the silhouette alone carry the joke about a man famous for spending — and giving away — fortunes on horses.