Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Our New First Lord at Sea
Our New First Lord at Sea[edit]
- Reason
- A fine cartoon by a famous Victorian artist. And it's not from the Entr'acte, so I bypass THAT hassle. By the way, the person on the left is Mr. Punch, the Punch mascot.
- Proposed caption
- When William Henry Smith, was promoted to First Lord of the Admiralty by Britain's Queen Victoria, there was some surprise: He was the owner of the WH Smith chain of newsagents and booksellers, and had served ten years as a politician. Of naval experience, he had none. Gilbert and Sullivan would satirise him mercilessly in H.M.S. Pinafore, with a character given a lengthy song satirising Smith's life that ended: "Stick close to your desks, and never go to sea / And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!" and which gave him the nickname "Pinafore Smith". However, the satire began before thin: This Punch cartoon dates from soon after his promotion.
- Articles this image appears in
- H. M. S. Pinafore, William Henry Smith (politician)
- Creator
- John Tenniel
- Support as nominator Adam Cuerden talk 12:12, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
- Support per nom.--Mbz1 (talk) 22:03, 25 November 2007 (UTC)
- Comment. Good scan of a helpful illustration, but it's basically a cartoon. The William Henry Smith also includes a (poorly scanned) etching or photograph which I assume is a more accurate depiction. If the purpose of the illustration is to illustrate, for encyclopedia purposes, what the guy looked like, then is a caricature the best possible representation (especially when we know that better representations of this guy exist? This is more of a policy question than a critique of this specific image. Spikebrennan (talk) 14:16, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
- As with the Entr'acte nom currently down the page somewhere, these illustrations are much more enc for the magazine they come from than the characters they represent, IMO. Many of these old caricatures are eerily accurate-looking while the photography of the day was a little staid and posed, but the skill of the artist is what they illustrate best, and there were few publications as good as Punch in it's day. I'd say this was probably mis-nominated, as perhaps was the Entr'acte one.--mikaultalk 14:32, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
- However, I think this is a fine example of public perception of Smith at the time, which was distilled into W. S. Gilbert's satire of him in H.M.S. Pinafore. Even if not the most accurate portrayal of Smith, it's certainly useful for H.M.S. Pinafore - it even echoes the line "But when the breezes blow / I generally go below / And seek the seclusion which a cabin grants..." Adam Cuerden talk 15:29, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
- As with the Entr'acte nom currently down the page somewhere, these illustrations are much more enc for the magazine they come from than the characters they represent, IMO. Many of these old caricatures are eerily accurate-looking while the photography of the day was a little staid and posed, but the skill of the artist is what they illustrate best, and there were few publications as good as Punch in it's day. I'd say this was probably mis-nominated, as perhaps was the Entr'acte one.--mikaultalk 14:32, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
Oppose It's just an editorial cartoon, and such fails the notability test. Clegs (talk) 16:07, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
No consensus (quorum not reached). MER-C 04:21, 3 December 2007 (UTC)