19th Century Chromolithograph, Vanity Fair “Fox Hunter” Caricature of Railroad Magnate Tom Nickalls

Description

1885 Vanity Fair Caricature titled “Tom” depicting “King of the American Railroad Market" Tom Nickalls. A stockjobber on the London … more 1885 Vanity Fair Caricature titled “Tom” depicting “King of the American Railroad Market" Tom Nickalls. A stockjobber on the London stock exchange, Nickalls made his fortune in American railway shares. He was a keen sportsman, fox hunter, avid skier, founding member of the London Rowing Club and a Master of the Surrey Stag Hounds. Towards the end of the 1800s, Tom Nickalls purchased the Swedish town of Skalstugan via a Norwegian front man. He commissioned the building of a hunting lodge which is still around today. He and his family visited during the summers to hunt and pick berries. The Nickalls family brought both their own servants and their own orchestra with them. The Vanity Fair caricature depicts Nickalls riding horseback wearing a red hunting jacket, a hard hat, whip and boots.

Vanity Fair was published weekly from 1869 to 1914. The highlight of each week was a caricature of a well-known personage. These caricatures were reproduced by the relatively new process of chromolithography. This is an original 1885 Vanity Fair chromolithograph, not a reproduction. less