Edgar Vincent, Viscount d'Abernon (Men of the Day. No. 746.)

Edgar Vincent, Viscount d'Abernon (Men of the Day. No. 746.)

A full-length rectangular colour portrait of a white male, 30s-40s, standing upright with hands folded behind his back, facing the right hand of the frame. He is dressed in a smart black tail suit with pinstripe trousers and shiny black shoes. He wears a black collar tie with a starched white handkerchief in his top pocket. The image is set against a pale blue background and features the signed word 'spy' on the bottom left by his feet. Text above the image on the top left reads 'VANITY FAIR', on the top right 'April 20th 1899'. Text below the image on the left reads 'Vincent Brooks, Day & Son Ltd lith' and the subtitle ' "Eastern finance"' in the centre.

Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount d'Abernon (1857-1941) was born in Sussex and educated at Eton before becoming a member of the Coldstream Guards in the British Army. He later moved into politics, and was appointed as secretary to Lord Elmond Fitzmaurice. He was heavily involved in a huge financial disaster at the Imperial Ottoman Bank, which he personally profited from as others were left ruined. In 1896, the banking office in Constantinople in which he worked was occupied by armed men, from whom he managed to escape and later organised safe passage for on his own private vessel.

In 1899, he was elected MP for Exeter for the Conservative Party, holding the seat until 1906 when he lost to Liberal Sir George Kekewich. He became Baron D'Abernon of Esher in 1914 from the recommendation of the Prime Minister at the time, H. H. Asquith. Alongside his career he was a renowned supporter and collector of fine arts, particularly English painting. Both he and his wife had portraits made by the artist John Singer Sargent, slightly different to the portrait here by Sir Leslie Ward (1851-1922) - the appearance of ‘spy’ within the illustration refers to the pseudonym used by the caricaturist. Less caricature-eqsue than some of Ward's other work, the piece was number 746 in a series published by Vanity Fair called 'Men of the Day'. The subtitle "Eastern finance" is perhaps a not-so-subtle hint to the aforementioned financial scandal Vincent was instrumental in that happened a decade earlier.

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