Sir Henry Thompson

Carlo Pellegrini ('Ape') renders Sir Henry Thompson — eminent surgeon, cremation advocate, and fashionable London dinner-host — as a figure of studied self-importance. The plate shows Thompson in profile, slightly stooped, hands clasped behind his back, wearing a dark frock coat, white waistcoat, bow tie, and tan trousers. Pince-nez ride his nose beneath a heavy drooping moustache; his head appears slightly enlarged in characteristic Ape exaggeration, conveying pomposity without cruelty. The caption reads Sir Henry Thompson / August 1, 1874. The joke is social: Thompson was famous for his 'Octave Dinners' — eight guests, eight dishes — and Pellegrini catches exactly the man who takes his own refinement very seriously indeed.