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Charles Townshend

1 of 8 portraits of Charles Townshend

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Charles Townshend

attributed to Isaac Gosset
wax medallion, circa 1750-1767
4 3/8 in. x 3 3/8 in. (111 mm x 86 mm) oval
Purchased, 1915
Primary Collection
NPG 1756

Sitterback to top

  • Charles Townshend (1725-1767), Whig politician; Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sitter in 8 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Isaac Gosset (1713-1799), Medallist. Artist or producer associated with 8 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This wax medallion portrait, attributed to the leading wax profile artist, Isaac Gosset, dates to the years of Townshend's political ascendancy. More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).

Linked publicationsback to top

Events of 1750back to top

Current affairs

Notorious highwayman James MacLaine is apprehended and hanged at Tyburn, having passed in society as a wealthy gentleman for two years.
Scottish landlords start evicting tenants in the Highland Clearances.
Westminster Bridge is opened, the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Putney.
Iron Act is passed restricting the manufacture of iron products in the American colonies.

Art and science

Electrician and experimental philosopher John Canton reads a paper before the Royal Society on a method of making artificial magnets.
Writer Samuel Johnson begins publishing his periodical The Rambler.
Artist Joshua Reynolds travels to Italy, where he remains until 1752.
Establishment of the Jockey Club; a gentleman's club which took over the regulation of British horse racing.

International

Composer Johann Sebastian Bach dies in Leipzig. He completes his Mass in B Minor, worked on over many years, shortly before his death.

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