ComicBook Experience

From the exhibition

Hugh Dawnay, 8th Viscount Downe — 'Smartness'

Leslie Ward · Vanity Fair, 27 October 1883

Hugh Dawnay, 8th Viscount Downe — 'Smartness'
Leslie Ward ('Spy') renders Major Hugh Dawnay, 8th Viscount Downe in three-quarter profile, his hands tucked behind his back with studied nonchalance. The uniform is the thing: a dark military frock coat heavily braided across the chest in the hussar fashion, red-striped overalls, and polished boots — every detail of an officer who takes his turn-out seriously. The caption, 'Smartness,' is both compliment and gentle needle, implying that Dawnay's soldierly distinction lies more in appearance than in battlefield thunder. A viscountcy coronet floats in the upper corner, anchoring his aristocratic rank. Ward's caricature exaggerates the long nose and clipped moustache without malice — this is club-window satire aimed at a man already pleased with his own reflection.

Leslie Ward Public domain