Vanity Fair — Tony, 1910

An original Vanity Fair chromolithographic caricature published on 5 May 1910, depicting American financier Anthony Joseph Drexel Jr. under the caption “Tony.”

The portrait appeared in Vanity Fair's celebrated Men of the Day series as No. 1228 and was drawn by the caricaturist who signed his work “ELF.” The National Portrait Gallery, London, holds an example of this same portrait in its reference collection.

Drexel is presented in the characteristic Vanity Fair manner: elegantly dressed in formal Edwardian attire, standing in profile with one hand casually placed in his pocket.

The restrained background and elongated figure are typical of the society caricatures for which Vanity Fair became famous during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Sitter: Anthony Joseph Drexel Jr.
Title: Tony
Artist: “ELF”
Publication: Vanity Fair
Series: Men of the Day No. 1228
Date: 5 May 1910
Medium: Chromolithograph
Visible image: approx. 19 × 31 cm
Mount: approx. 32 × 46 cm
Origin: London, England
Period: Edwardian