William Edward Forster ('Statesmen No. 5')

Carlo Pellegrini ('Ape') caricatures W. E. Forster, Liberal MP and architect of the landmark 1870 Elementary Education Act — visible here as a rolled document in his left hand, labelled in part Education. The caption reads: 'If he is not an advanced liberal, it is for want of advancing himself' — a wry jab at Forster's reputation for pragmatic caution within Gladstone's reforming ministry. Pellegrini inflates the subject's voluminous auburn beard to near-comic dominance, a standard 'Ape' device for signalling blunt, no-nonsense character; pince-nez dangling from one fist reinforces the air of a practical man of business rather than a drawing-room politician. The grey sack coat and heavy boots confirm Forster's Quaker-industrial West Riding identity — Bradford manufacturer turned statesman — against the silk-hat gloss of Westminster orthodoxy.