From the exhibition
Arthur John Edward Newton, 'The Marlborough Street Solicitor'
Leslie Ward · Vanity Fair, 21 September 1893

Leslie Ward ('Spy') places Newton squarely before us in a pale grey frock-coat and matching waistcoat, a dark cravat knotted at his stiff collar. He holds what appears to be a brief or small notebook in his left hand and a pair of eyeglasses in his right — props that signal the working professional rather than the aristocrat. The caption names him simply 'The Marlborough Street Solicitor,' anchoring him to the London police court where he practiced. Ward's caricature exaggerates Newton's compact frame, heavy moustache, and slightly swarthy complexion — the last a common Spy shorthand for Latin or 'Mediterranean' otherness applied to subjects deemed socially marginal despite their respectability. Newton later became notorious as Oscar Wilde's solicitor during the 1895 trials.
Leslie Ward Public domain