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From the exhibition

Odo: Lord Odo William Leopold Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill

Leslie Ward · Published in Vanity Fair, 28 July 1877

Odo: Lord Odo William Leopold Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill
Signed by 'Spy' (Leslie Ward), this chromolithograph plate — captioned simply "Odo" — caricatures Lord Odo Russell (1829–1884), British diplomat and then Ambassador to the German Empire. Ward exaggerates Russell's most distinctive features: a large, bulbous nose, a wild auburn beard, and dishevelled hair piled atop an oversized head balanced on a compact body. He sits cross-legged on a spindle-legged chair, hands folded contentedly over his stomach, radiating self-satisfied ease — a pointed comment on the comfortable insider status of aristocratic diplomacy. The grey trousers and dark frock coat are rendered with Ward's characteristic precision, grounding the grotesque head in sartorial respectability.

Leslie Ward Public domain