Walpole Greenwell — Men of the Day No. 731

Leslie Ward ('Spy') presents Walpole Greenwell in three-quarter profile, rendered in the chromolithograph style that made Vanity Fair plates collectible objects as much as political commentary. The caption reads simply 'Walpole' — the aristocratic surname doing the work of identification for readers who moved in the same circles. Greenwell stands immaculate in a dark frock coat, striped trousers, white collar and pocket square, a gold watch-chain looped across his waistcoat: the uniform of City money and respectable gentility. Ward's caricature is mild by the magazine's standards — the moustache is gently enlarged, the chest slightly puffed — suggesting a subject whose social standing was secure enough that satire needed only a light touch.