"The Lord Mayor." Vanity Fair caricature by Cecioni, c1872.

by Cecioni, Adriano

Vanity Fair caricature of Sir Sydney Hedley Waterlow. 

Chromolithograph of The Lord Mayor of London caricature by Adriano Cecioni. By all accounts Waterlow was practical and hard-working throughout his working life, - starting at the age of fourteen as an apprentice to a printer. The accompanyinig text states "...at the age of fifty he has attained the exalted position of Lord Mayor of London, with the power of managing the Corporation revenues and the prescriptive right of starting subscriptions, of going through the most crowded streets in procession, and of requiring the presence at a banquet of the  Ministers of the Crown.

During six months of 1872, Adriano Cecioni worked as an artist for Vanity Fair, a weekly magazine of social comment, published in London from 1868 to 1914. With eight to ten pages each issue, Vanity Fair magazine's popularity was guaranteed with the inclusion of an amusing caricature, lithographed from a watercolour, parodying any newsworthy personage. Over the years of publication it became a mark of honour to be the 'victim' of one of the magazine's caricaturists. The publisher accompanied each with a witty text, written under one of his pseudonyms, 'Jehu Junior' (after the biblical prophet who effected the downfall of his enemies). He considered the caricatures made grim faces more grim, grotesque figures more grotesque, and dull people duller by the genius of ‘Ape’" (Carlo Pellegrini, 1839-1889). It was the first time lithography had been used for caricatures. They were printed by the eminent lithographer, Vincent Brooks (1814-1885).

Page size 355 x 230 (14 x 9 inches). In good condition.