45 people matching these criteria:
- group '052'
Kit-Cat Club
Supposedly named after a mutton pie, served by Christopher Cat (a London pastry chef and friend of Jacob Tonson), it is difficult to precisely date the origin of the Kit-Cat club. It is clear that by the 1680s Tonson had begun to arrange small meetings in London, catered for by Cat, but it was probably not until the mid 1690s that the group became the large, gentrified Whig club it is best known as, famous for its drinking customs and political sponsorship. No membership lists exist for the club, but its members varied from the aristocratic elite to army officers and diplomats. The closest approximation of a membership list is perhaps the set of 48 portraits commissioned by Tonson and painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller that now hang here at the National Portrait Gallery and at Beningbrough Hall. The portraits were originally displayed in a purpose-built gallery at Tonson's Barn Elms House (which also became the headquarters for the group) and were gifted to him for his work as the club secretary. The group was succeeded by the Whig Hanover Club by 1720, a group which was solely dedicated to parliamentary matters.
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox
1672-1723Courtier; son of King Charles II
Sitter in 10 portraits
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham
1675-1749Field Marshal and politician; MP for Buckinghamshire
Sitter in 8 portraits
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
1650-1722Soldier and statesman
Sitter associated with 86 portraits
Portrait painter
Sitter associated with 30 portraits | Artist associated with 1689 portraits
Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset
1662-1748Politician, Lord President of the Council and Master of the Horse
Sitter in 22 portraits
Publisher; Secretary of the Kit-cat Club
Sitter in 5 portraits | Artist associated with 6 portraits
Publisher; nephew of Jacob Tonson I
Sitter in 1 portrait | Artist associated with 5 portraits
Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton
1648-1715Nobleman and politician
Sitter associated with 20 portraits
Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington
1673-1743Prime Minister; Speaker of the House of Commons
Sitter in 6 portraits