NAM.1956-08-99-1

A General Group, 1900. Chromolithograph after ‘Spy’ (Leslie Ward, 1851-1922). Printed by Vincent Brooks Day and Son Limited, published by ‘Vanity Fair’, 29 Nov 1900. Associated with the Boer War (1899-1902). On the day that this caricature was published Field Marshal Lord Roberts formally relinquished command of the forces in South Africa to Maj Gen Lord Kitchener, who was immediately promoted lieutenant-general with the local rank of general. At that time the appointments held by those represented (left to right) were as follows: Lt Gen Sir Archibald Hunter, Commander, 10th Division; Brig Gen Herbert Plumer, Staff; Maj Gen Hector MacDonald, Commander 3rd Brigade; Gen Sir Redvers Buller, General Officer Commanding, Natal (formerly General Commanding-in-Chief, South Africa); Maj Gen Robert Baden-Powell, Staff, employed with the South African Constabulary; Field Marshal Lord Roberts, Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief the Forces, South Africa; Maj Gen Lord Dundonald, Commander, 3rd Mounted Brigade; Maj Gen Lord Kitchener, Chief of Staff, South Africa; Lt Gen Reginald Pole-Carew, Commander, 11th Division; Gen George White, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gibraltar (formerly Lieutenant-General, Natal; defender of Ladysmith); Lt Gen Sir Frederick Carrington, Staff, Rhodesian Field Force and Lt Gen John French, Commander, Cavalry Division. The magazine ‘Vanity Fair’ was first published on 1 Jan 1869 and the caricatures, originally isssued weekly, became a popular feature, though groups such as this appeared only rarely. The artist, Leslie Ward (1851-1922), who was knighted in 1919, contributed more than half the caricatures published in ‘Vanity Fair’ between 1873 and 1909. He adopted the pseudonym ‘Spy’, defined as ‘an observer’, and described in an interview in ‘The Strand Magazine’ (Jul-Dec 1894, pp632-34) how, when caricaturing a subject, he tried ‘to catch hold of the leading feature and slightly, very slightly, exaggerate’.

Boer War (1899-1902)