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From the exhibition

'A Temperate Ulster Man' — Sir James Porter Corry

Carlo Pellegrini · Carlo Pellegrini ('Ape'), Vanity Fair, 14 May 1887. Chromolithograph. Yale Center for British Art, B1979.14.89.

'A Temperate Ulster Man' — Sir James Porter Corry
Pellegrini renders Corry in pure profile, a device for emphasizing a prominent nose and gut. The Belfast shipping magnate and Ulster Unionist MP stands rotund in frock coat and stovepipe hat, gloved hands clasped at the belly. The caption, 'a temperate Ulster man,' is double-edged: Corry was a genuine temperance advocate, yet the word also deflates Ulster Protestant rectitude into a mild joke. The Red Hand of Ulster badge appears upper right, anchoring his political identity. Pellegrini emphasizes the exaggerated paunch; the wit here is social in character.

Carlo Pellegrini CC0