Reginald Talbot — 'Aldershot Cavalry'

Spy renders Sir Reginald Arthur James Talbot, KCB, in profile — the classic Vanity Fair pose that flatters and mocks simultaneously. Talbot wears full general's undress uniform: dark frock coat with gilt buttons, gold aiguillette, red-striped overalls, and black cavalry boots. A plumed cocked hat tips rakishly; white gloves are carried loose in one hand, a sword hilt caught in the other. The caption 'Aldershot Cavalry' fixes him at Aldershot Command, the army's principal home garrison. Ward's caricature is mild — a long jaw, neat moustache, self-satisfied bearing — the gentle mockery reserved for safely establishment figures: brave enough to hold, never sharp enough to wound.