Set of beautiful Vanity Fair lithograph prints by famous caricaturist "SPY" (Leslie Ward)
Professionaly framed by Leo Rehfeld of E. 51st st New York, New York in the mid-20th century
May 3rd 1890 Lord Brooke "He sits for Colchester"
April 28th 1883 Admiral Sir Anthony Hiley Hoskins, a royal navy officer "Naval Reserves"
Measurements: 13 1/2" wide 18 1/4" tall
Vanity Fair was a weekly magazine of social, literary and political content which was published in London from 1868 until February 5, 1914. It was favorite of Victorian and later, Edwardian England. Most popular of its features were the wonderful full page caricatures of famous men and women of the day. These lithographs remain Vanity Fair’s greatest legacy. The best remembered today is Leslie Ward (1851-1922), who signed his works as "Spy", and whose caricatures account for well over half of those featured in Vanity Fair.
They are renowned throughout the world and highly collectible and recognizable. Famous artists contributed to Vanity Fair, typically under pen names. So famous have these fabulous prints become, Vanity Fair caricatures today often are referred to simply as "Spy Cartoons". 'Spy', his nom de crayon, referred to his frequently used method of observing his victims secretly or from a distance for example at the racecourse, in the law courts, in church, in the university lecture theatre, or in the lobby of the Houses of Parliament.