Sir Leslie Mathew Ward, 1851 - 1922 - John Milton Hay - 1897 - T-Shirt

This is a full-length watercolour caricature of American statesman John Milton Hay, drawn by Leslie Ward under the signature 'Spy' for Vanity Fair in 1897.

Visual Elements & Composition

The figure stands frontally and fills the height of the sheet against a grey-blue wash. His long dark double-breasted frock coat, with pale grey lapels, dominates the image. Beneath it sit a dark waistcoat, a gold watch chain, a white collar and a dark blue cravat dotted with small white spots. Grey hair frames the face, and a white beard and moustache give the caricature its character. His hands are kept out of view behind him, so the upright, formal stance carries the image. The signature 'Spy' sits in the lower right corner.

Meaning & Symbolism

Caricatures in Vanity Fair rested on a recognisable likeness, exaggerated for wit. Hay was a poet, journalist and co-author of a major biography of Abraham Lincoln, and he later served as Secretary of State under McKinley and then Roosevelt. This 1897 sheet falls within his years as United States ambassador to the Court of St James's, and the sober dress and rigid bearing suit a diplomat whose career was bound up with Anglo-American relations. The work belongs to Ward's long series of full-length portraits of statesmen, sportsmen and public figures, rendered with restraint on a plain wash ground.

Wearing the Portrait

A full-length figure suits a tee well. The body of the shirt gives the standing figure its height, so the coat and cravat read clearly from across a room. The grey wash becomes the garment's own backdrop, and the signature in the lower corner sits low on the front, where it can be noticed on a second look. The dignified, wry tone of the original carries directly onto the shirt.