William Pitt
(1759-1806), Prime MinisterRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter associated with 174 portraits
Pitt dominated Parliament as Tory Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801 and 1804 to 1806. He restructured Britain's finances after the American Revolution and reformed the government of India in 1784. Pitt regarded the French Revolution as a foreign issue but began to worry that British radicals were in touch with French revolutionaries. After France declared war in 1793, he clamped down on domestic dissent with the first series of 'gagging acts'. In 1800 he arranged a Parliamentary union with Ireland but resigned in 1801 over George III's opposition to Catholics sitting in Parliament. Pitt's rivalry with Fox, his political and temperamental opposite, dominated Parliament for over twenty years.
The Death of the Earl of Chatham
by John Singleton Copley
oil on canvas, 1779-1781
NPG L146
by James Gillray
watercolour, 1789
NPG 135a
by Isaac Cruikshank
pencil, 1789-1790
NPG 2103b
by Anton Hickel
oil on canvas, 1793-1795
NPG 745
by Dominick Andrew Olivieri, after Joseph Nollekens
marble bust, 1823, based on a work of 1806
NPG 1240
by Peter Rouw
wax medallion, 1809
NPG 1747
by Unknown artist
plaster cast of seal, late 18th-early 19th century
NPG D7046
after Unknown artist
etching, late 18th century
NPG D16358
'Aside he turn'd for envy, yet with jealous leer malign, eyd them askance'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 12 December 1782
NPG D12302
by James Gillray, published by Elizabeth d'Achery
hand-coloured etching, published 11 September 1782
NPG D12315
by James Sayers, published by Thomas Cornell
etching, published 17 March 1785
NPG D12236
'Westminster school. or - Dr Busby settling accounts with Master-Billy and his playmates'
by James Gillray, published by James Ridgway
hand-coloured etching, published 4 February 1785
NPG D12993
'A new way to pay the National-Debt'
by James Gillray, published by William Holland
hand-coloured etching and engraving, published 21 April 1786
NPG D13052
'Anticipation, or the approaching fate of the French Commercial Treaty'
by James Gillray, published by William Holland
hand-coloured etching, published 1787?
NPG D12356
William Pitt ('The Minister endeavouring to eke out Dr Pr*ty***n's bisho-prick')
by James Gillray, published by R. Phillips
hand-coloured etching and aquatint, published March 1787
NPG D12357
'The board of controul, or the blessings of a Scotch dictator'
by James Gillray, published by R. Phillips
hand-coloured etching and aquatint, published 20 March 1787
NPG D12359
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 2 June 1787
NPG D12362
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 2 June 1787
NPG D12363
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 16 June 1787
NPG D12365
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 21 May 1787
NPG D12994
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 10 May 1787
NPG D13060
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
etching, published 10 May 1787
NPG D14861
'There's more ways than one' (Charles James Fox; William Pitt; Edward Thurlow, Baron Thurlow)
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 18 February 1788
NPG D12373
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 2 May 1788
NPG D12377
'The bow to the throne, - alias - the begging bow'
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 6 May 1788
NPG D12378
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 16 May 1788
NPG D12381
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 20 May 1788
NPG D12383
'Election-troops, bring in their accounts, to the pay-table' (Edward Topham; William Pitt)
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 14 August 1788
NPG D12390
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 28 March 1788
NPG D12393
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 4 June 1788
NPG D13065
by and published by John Keyse Sherwin, and published by Robert Wilkinson, after Thomas Gainsborough
line engraving, published 15 June 1789
NPG D40236
by and published by John Keyse Sherwin, and published by Robert Wilkinson, after Thomas Gainsborough
line engraving, published 15 June 1789
NPG D40249
by and published by John Keyse Sherwin, and published by Robert Wilkinson, after Thomas Gainsborough
line engraving, published 15 June 1789
NPG D40250
by James Gillray
line engraving, 1789
NPG D4086
William Pitt ('The vulture of the constitution')
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching and aquatint, published 3 January 1789
NPG D12395
by James Gillray, published by John Harris
etching, published 9 April 1789
NPG D12402
by James Gillray, published by John Harris
etching, published 28 May 1789
NPG D12403
'The coward comforted, - or - a scene immediately after the duel'
by James Gillray, published by James Aitken
hand-coloured etching, published 29 May 1789
NPG D12404
'France freedom Britain slavery'
by James Gillray, published by James Aitken
hand-coloured etching, published 28 July 1789
NPG D12406
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
line engraving, published 20 February 1789
NPG D13068
by and published by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
line engraving, published 20 February 1789
NPG D13067
by Johann Gerhard Huck, after Anton Hickel
mezzotint, (1790s)
NPG D40238
by Francesco Bartolozzi, after Gainsborough Dupont
stipple engraving, 1790
NPG D40239
published by Robert Sayer, after Isaac Cruikshank
mezzotint, published 20 February 1790 (1789-1790)
NPG D3891
'John-Bull, baited by the dogs of excise'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching and aquatint, published 9 April 1790
NPG D12408
published by Robert Sayer, after Isaac Cruikshank
mezzotint, published 20 February 1790 (1789-1790)
NPG D18920
'Wierd sisters; ministers of darkness; minions of the moon'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching and aquatint, published 23 December 1791
NPG D12436
The Wrangling Friends or Opposition in Disorder
possibly by Isaac Cruikshank, published by John Nixon, possibly after Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 10 May 1791
NPG D48866
'Taming of the shrew : - Katharine & Petruchio : - the modern Quixotte, or what you will'
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 20 April 1791
NPG D12416
William Pitt ('An excrescence; - a fungus; - alias - a toad-stool upon a dung-hill')
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 20 December 1791
NPG D12435
'The balance of power. - or - "The posterity of the immortal Chatham, turn'd posture master"'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 21 April 1791
NPG D13004
by James Gillray, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 19 July 1791
NPG D13074
Death of the Earl of Chatham (includes William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham and 55 other sitters)
by Francesco Bartolozzi, after John Singleton Copley
line engraving, published 1791
NPG D18117
'A sphere, projecting against a plane' (William Pitt; Albinia, Countess of Buckinghamshire)
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 3 January 1792
On display in Room 11 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG D12438
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching and soft-ground etching, published 16 March 1792
NPG D12441
William Pitt ('The bottomless-Pitt')
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 16 March 1792
NPG D12442
'The fall of the Wolsey of the woolsack'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 24 May 1792
NPG D12457
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 9 June 1792
NPG D12458
Related People
- William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (father)
- John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (brother)
- James Charles Pitt (brother)
- Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (niece)
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