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Room 9
The Kit-cat Club

Room 9The portraits in this room by Sir Godfrey Kneller are of a group of influential Whigs, all members of the Kit-cat Club. The Club was founded by Lord Somers and the publisher Jacob Tonson. It began meeting in Christopher Cat's tavern near Temple Bar, and took its name from his mutton pies known as Kit-cats. The paintings were framed as a set to hang in a special room which Tonson's nephew had built at his house at Barn Elms near Barnes in London. Other portraits in this set are on display at the Gallery's regional partner Beningbrough Hall in Yorkshire.

Room introduction Beningbrough Hall

21 portraits on display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery

List Thumbnail

3193

Joseph Addison

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1703-1712
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3193

3210

Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Grafton

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1703-1705
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3210

3211

Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1703-1710
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3211

3224

Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1703
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3224

3231

Sir John Vanbrugh

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1704-1710
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3231

3208

Sir Samuel Garth

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1705-1710
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3208

3228

George Stepney

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1705-1708
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3228

3234

Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1708-1710
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3234

3199

William Congreve

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, 1709
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3199

3213

Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, 1709
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3213

3195

James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1710
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3195

3198

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1710-1713
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3198

3205

Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1710-1712
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3205

3217

Arthur Maynwaring

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1710
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3217

3220

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1710-1715
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3220

3233

Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, circa 1710-1715
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3233

3223

John Somers, Baron Somers

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, before 1711
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3223

3227

Sir Richard Steele

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, 1711
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3227

3194

William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, 1717
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3194

3230

Jacob Tonson I

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, 1717
On display in Room 9 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3230