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Context of the Illustration: The Much Put-upon Servant and His Crotchety Master

Altogether the Major was a creditable companion, well accustomed to a life of leisure, and to such places as that they were about to visit, and having an air of gentlemanly ease about him that mixed well enough with his own City character, and did not compete with it at all. If Mr. Dombey had any lingering idea that the Major, as a man accustomed, in the way of his calling, to make light of the ruthless hand that had lately crushed his hopes, might unconsciously impart some useful philosophy to him, and scare away his weak regrets, he hid it from himself, and left it lying at the bottom of his pride, unexamined.

"Where is my scoundrel?" said the Major, looking wrathfully round the room.

The Native, who had no particular name, but answered to any vituperative epithet, presented himself instantly at the door and ventured to come no nearer.

"You villain!" said the choleric Major, "where’s the breakfast?"

The dark servant disappeared in search of it, and was quickly heard reascending the stairs in such a tremulous state, that the plates and dishes on the tray he carried, trembling sympathetically as he came, rattled again, all the way up. [Ch 20, "Mr. Dombey goes upon a Journey," p 157]

Comment: Eytinge's Only Unnamed Character — "The Native"

Even though he is a secondary character, Dickens uses the Native from an unspecified African country (but interpreted by Phiz as a South Asian) as a comic foil to the self-important Major Bagstock. The Native, Bagstock's general factotum, is presumably a "native" whom Bagstock has trained as a domestic servant and imported from an unspecified British colony. Unlike all the other Eytinge characters portrayed, The Native in an elaborate uniform (possibly derived from the pair of Phiz illustrations in which he appears) has no proper name, but answers to any "vituperative epithet" that that the imperious retired army Colonel may choose to hurl at him. Thus, Eytinge shows an elaborately uniformed servant who seems terrified of his employer, and in a perpetual state of comedic confusion.

Other Illustrators' Depictions of Major Bagstock (1847 to 1910)

Left: Phiz's March 1847 serial illustration Major Bagstock is delighted to have the opportunity (Part 6, Ch. 19). Centre: The old humbug's dramatic entry in the Household Edition: "Take advice from plain old Joe, and never educate that sort of people, sir." (detail: 1877). Right: W. H. C. Groome's concluding illustration is both critical of the Major's brutal treatment of his colonial servant and sympathetic to his much put-upon turbaned East Indian, The unfortunate Native suffered terribly (1900).

Left: Clayton J. Clarke's Player's Cigarette Card No. 7 watercolour study: Major Bagstock (1910). Centre: Harry Furniss's portrait of the egocentric retired military man: Joe B. (1910). Right of centre: Phiz's second study of the Major and his valet, Chapter 26: "Joe B. Is Sly, Sir, Devilish Sly" (detail: June 1847).

Right: Barnard's realisation of Dombey's initiating a social relationship with Edith Granger: "Withers the Wan, at this period, handing round the tea, Mr. Dombey again addressed himself to Edith." (1877). Centre: Furniss's version of the encounter in the street, Mr. Dombey meets Edith (1910). Right: Sol Eytinge, Junior's study of the bluff retired military man and his colonial servant: Major Bagstock and The Native (1867).

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son

• Dombey and Son (homepage)
• The Diamond Edition of the Novels (1867)
• Phiz's Illustrations for Dombey and Son, Wholesale Retail & for Exportation (Oct. 1846 - April 1848)
• Fred Barnard's 61 illustrations for the Household Edition (1872)
• Groome's illustrations of the Collins Pocket Edition of Dombey and Son (1900, rpt. 1934)
• Harry Furniss's 29 Illustrations for the Charles Dickens Library Edition, 1910
• Kyd's five Player's Cigarette Cards for , 1910

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880.

_______. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

_______. Dombey and Son. 16 Illustrations by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and A. V. S. Anthony (engraver). The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

Hammerton, J. A.. "Ch. XVI. Dombey and Son."  The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book Co., [1910], 294-338.

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Last modified 9 December 2020