Richard Boyle Earl of Burlington &c.
Print
1734 (published)
1734 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This type of print is known as a mezzotint. The printmaker made it by roughening up the surface of a metal printing plate and then selectively smoothing down areas to produce the highlights. He left roughest the areas he wanted to print darkest, and completely smoothed flat the areas he wished to print as white highlights.
Kit-Cat Club
The Kit-Cat club was a sociable and prestigious gathering of the nobility and gentleman that supported the Whig party. (The Whigs were firmly pro-Hanoverian - the party of the government, the court and the establishment.) The Kit-Cat club was named after mutton pies called 'kit-cats' served at a tavern kept by a Mr Christopher Cat. The club met here to dine and drink toasts.
Members fell into the custom of presenting Jacob Tonson, the club's secretary, with their portraits. Godfrey Kneller painted about 40 of these in the first two decades of the 18th century. As in this print, the sitters were usually shown half length, from the waist up, with one hand in view.
Trading
This print was one of a set of 27 mezzotints of members of the Kit-Cat Club made by John Faber Junior. He and Jacob Tonson published them as a set, with a title-page and a dedication, in 1735. Tonson sold them from his premises in the Strand, and Faber from his in Bloomsbury Square. Some, such as this one, had already appeared singly in the previous year.
This type of print is known as a mezzotint. The printmaker made it by roughening up the surface of a metal printing plate and then selectively smoothing down areas to produce the highlights. He left roughest the areas he wanted to print darkest, and completely smoothed flat the areas he wished to print as white highlights.
Kit-Cat Club
The Kit-Cat club was a sociable and prestigious gathering of the nobility and gentleman that supported the Whig party. (The Whigs were firmly pro-Hanoverian - the party of the government, the court and the establishment.) The Kit-Cat club was named after mutton pies called 'kit-cats' served at a tavern kept by a Mr Christopher Cat. The club met here to dine and drink toasts.
Members fell into the custom of presenting Jacob Tonson, the club's secretary, with their portraits. Godfrey Kneller painted about 40 of these in the first two decades of the 18th century. As in this print, the sitters were usually shown half length, from the waist up, with one hand in view.
Trading
This print was one of a set of 27 mezzotints of members of the Kit-Cat Club made by John Faber Junior. He and Jacob Tonson published them as a set, with a title-page and a dedication, in 1735. Tonson sold them from his premises in the Strand, and Faber from his in Bloomsbury Square. Some, such as this one, had already appeared singly in the previous year.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Richard Boyle Earl of Burlington &c. (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Mezzotint on paper |
| Brief description | Portrait, half-length, of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. Mezzotint by John Faber, after Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1734. |
| Physical description | Half-length portrait, to left, looking to front with right hand on hip. The sitter is wearing a sash, long wig and the star of the Order of the Garter. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'G. Kneller Bar. pinxt 1716. J. Faber Fecit. 1734. Richard Boyle Earl of Burlington &c. / Between 15 & 16.' (Lettered) |
| Gallery label |
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| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type This type of print is known as a mezzotint. The printmaker made it by roughening up the surface of a metal printing plate and then selectively smoothing down areas to produce the highlights. He left roughest the areas he wanted to print darkest, and completely smoothed flat the areas he wished to print as white highlights. Kit-Cat Club The Kit-Cat club was a sociable and prestigious gathering of the nobility and gentleman that supported the Whig party. (The Whigs were firmly pro-Hanoverian - the party of the government, the court and the establishment.) The Kit-Cat club was named after mutton pies called 'kit-cats' served at a tavern kept by a Mr Christopher Cat. The club met here to dine and drink toasts. Members fell into the custom of presenting Jacob Tonson, the club's secretary, with their portraits. Godfrey Kneller painted about 40 of these in the first two decades of the 18th century. As in this print, the sitters were usually shown half length, from the waist up, with one hand in view. Trading This print was one of a set of 27 mezzotints of members of the Kit-Cat Club made by John Faber Junior. He and Jacob Tonson published them as a set, with a title-page and a dedication, in 1735. Tonson sold them from his premises in the Strand, and Faber from his in Bloomsbury Square. Some, such as this one, had already appeared singly in the previous year. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.430-1898 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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