Myles Fenton, 'A Railway Knight'

Leslie Ward ('Spy') renders Sir Myles Fenton, general manager of the South Eastern Railway and freshly knighted, in characteristic three-quarter pose: black frock coat, grey trousers, patent-leather shoes with gold toecaps. One hand rests in a trouser pocket; the other raises a pince-nez to his nose in a gesture of cool appraisal — the manner of a man who inspects timetables and balance sheets with equal authority. The caption 'A Railway Knight' puns on his knighthood and his industry. No ethnic caricature is present. Ward's inflation of Fenton's broad forehead and close-cropped grey hair lightly mocks the bureaucratic solidity of Victorian railway management at its zenith, when a railway directorship conferred near-aristocratic social standing.