John Morgan Howard, QC — 'Energetic Toryism'

Leslie Ward ('Spy') renders the Conservative barrister John Morgan Howard, QC as a figure of composed self-importance: top hat, double-breasted frock coat, pince-nez on a cord, one hand tucked behind his back. The pose is classic Vanity Fair — the subject caught mid-thought, slightly portly, head enlarged against a trim body. The caption, 'Energetic Toryism,' does the satirical work quietly, implying that Howard's brand of Conservative energy is more sartorial than combustible. No ethnic caricature is present. What the plate records is a now-obscure Victorian legal-political figure whose moment of public salience — enough to earn plate No. 240 in the 'Men of the Day' series — is otherwise almost entirely forgotten.