Alan Legge Gardner, 3rd Baron Gardner

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation

Alan Legge Gardner, 3rd Baron Gardner

by Sir Leslie Ward
watercolour, published in Vanity Fair 21 January 1883
12 in. x 7 1/8 in. (305 mm x 181 mm)
Purchased, 1934
Primary Collection
NPG 3287

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Sir Leslie Ward (1851-1922), 'Spy'; caricaturist and portrait painter; son of Edward Matthew Ward. Artist or producer associated with 1617 portraits, Sitter in 9 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Gibson, Robin, The Face in the Corner: Animal Portraits from the Collections of the National Portrait Gallery, 1998, p. 63
  • Robin Gibson, Pets in Portraits, 2015, p. 98 Read entry

    The title of this cartoon when published in the magazine Vanity Fair was ‘Fox Hunting’, rather surprisingly perhaps in view of the affable old gentleman depicted and his grossly overweight collie. Lord Gardner had in his younger days, however, been a member of the most fashionable circles, a friend of Count D’Orsay and Lady Blessington, and a legendary huntsman. Now, as Vanity Fair notes, he had become a good shot and taken up salmon fishing.

    Working under the pseudonym ‘Spy’, Sir Leslie Ward produced many drawings that were, unlike most caricatures, done from actual sittings with his subjects, and the portraits of both master and dog here have an authentic feel to them. Lord Gardner died soon after the publication of this drawing, and one might speculate that the ageing collie was not long in following him. Collies had become very fashionable since receiving the royal seal of approval, and Queen Victoria owned a number of them in her widowhood. In the 1870s, her favourite collie, Sharp, had his portrait exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 237

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1883back to top

Current affairs

Following the Secret Ballot Act (1872), the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act was a further measure introduced by Gladstone's government with the intention of limiting bribery and intimidation in elections. Candidates' expenses were published, and a strict limit set on expenses, and it also enabled poorer candidates to stand for parliament.

Art and science

The Royal College of Music founded in London, with the British musicologist George Grove as its first director.
Monet moves to Giverny, a village along the Seine, where he lives until his death in 1926. Renting a farmhouse he later buys, Monet designs a pond, redesigns the garden, and begins to paint some of his most recognisable images of water lilies, flower beds and the Japanese footbridge.

International

The Brooklyn Bridge opens in New York, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, stretching 1825 metres over the East River. One of the oldest suspension bridges in America, it was the largest in the world upon completion. Designed by the John Augustus Roebling's engineering firm, the bridge is built from limestone, granite and Rosendale natural cement, in gothic style.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.