Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
by Jacobus Houbraken, published by John & Paul Knapton
line engraving, published 1749
14 1/2 in. x 9 in. (368 mm x 228 mm) plate size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D25787
Sitterback to top
- Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset (1587-1645), Favourite of James I. Sitter associated with 19 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 435 portraits.
- John & Paul Knapton (active 1735-1789), Booksellers and publishers. Artist or producer associated with 290 portraits.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D18900: Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset (from same plate)
- NPG D41812: Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset (from same plate)
- NPG D41813: Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset (from same plate)
Events of 1749back to top
Current affairs
Royal Fireworks in Green Park to celebrate the Peace of Aix-La-Chapelle. 10,000 rockets are let off at a cost of £8,000. Composer George Frideric Handel's accompanying Music for the Royal Fireworks is performed for the first time.George II is introduced to William Ansah Sessarakoo the 'Prince of Annamaboe'. The son of a wealthy chief from the West African Gold Coast, he had been taken prisoner and made a slave in the West Indies.
Art and science
Horace Walpole buys the house and grounds which he will transform into his neo-Gothic fantasy, Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham, London.Henry Fielding publishes his comic novel Tom Jones.
John Cleland's erotic novel Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) is published. The author is released from debtor's prison but arrested again later in the year and charged with corrupting the King's subjects.
International
George II grants a charter to Ohio Company to settle Ohio valley in the American colonies.British settlement of Halifax, Nova Scotia is founded.
Sugar planters found Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.