Joseph Boruwlaski; Neil Fergusson
1 portrait of Neil Fergusson
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Joseph Boruwlaski; Neil Fergusson
by John Kay
etching, 1802
6 1/8 in. x 4 in. (154 mm x 103 mm) plate size; 10 1/4 in. x 7 7/8 in. (261 mm x 200 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D16490
Sittersback to top
- Joseph Boruwlaski (1739-1837), Travelling performer and memoirist. Sitter in 2 portraits.
- Neil Fergusson, Lawyer. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Artistback to top
- John Kay (1742-1826), Miniature painter and caricaturist. Artist or producer associated with 288 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Kay etched Boruwlaski during a visit to Edinburgh, where the pronunciation of his name was corrupted to 'Barrel-of-Whisky'. He is depicted with lawyer Neil Fergusson, having been shown around the Parliament House. Kay's compositions were often remarkably modern, as in this print, pre-empting photography and the black-and-white graphic work of the late nineteenth century.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Schama, Simon, The Face of Britain: The Nation Through its Portraits, 2015-09-15, p. 480
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Simon Schama's Face of Britain: People (14 September 2015 - 4 January 2016)
- John Kay: Portraits of curious characters (15 December 2007 - 13 July 2008)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1802back to top
Current affairs
After returning from Naples, Nelson tours England with the diplomat and antiquarian Sir William Hamilton and his wife Emma, with whom he was having an affair. With Nelson's status confirmed as a national hero, their reception outrivals that of the King.Extensive strikes in government shipyards led by John Gast.
Art and science
Francis Jeffrey, MP and arbiter of literary taste, co-founds the Edinburgh Review, the influential Whig quarterly which voiced strong criticism of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey.The Exchange, where stocks were traded, is rebuilt to cope with an increase in business during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
International
Peace of Amiens; Britain finally agrees to unpopular peace, leaving France the chief power in Europe and returning recent British colonial acquisitions.Napoleon is declared First Consul of the French Empire for life.
English flock to see the international war plunder now on display at the Louvre in Paris.
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