Horace Walpole
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Horace Walpole
by John Giles Eccardt
oil on canvas, 1754
15 1/2 in. x 12 1/2 in. (394 mm x 318 mm)
Purchased, 1895
Primary Collection
NPG 988
Sitterback to top
- Horatio ('Horace') Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717-1797), Writer and collector. Sitter associated with 20 portraits.
Artistback to top
- John Giles Eccardt (active 1740-died 1779), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 21 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This small-scale portrait was commissioned by Walpole with portraits of Richard Bentley and Thomas Gray and three others for the Blue Bedroom at Strawberry Hill (the house can be seen in the background). Walpole also owned the painted plaster bust of the actor, Colley Cibber, also shown in this room.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 367
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 470
Placesback to top
- Place portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (sitter's home, Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham, London)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1754back to top
Current affairs
Death of the Prime Minister Henry Pelham. He is succeeded by his brother Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.General election increases the Whig party's majority
Art and science
Scottish chemist Joseph Black identifies carbon dioxide.Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (Society of Arts) is established in London.
Designer and cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale publishes his first catalogue of furniture.
Philosopher David Hume's expansive and best-selling six-volume History of Great Britain begins publication.
International
Albany Congress: the British colonies negotiate with the native-American Iroquois in the face of the French threat in the Ohio valley. Benjamin Franklin proposes that the colonies should unite to form a colonial government. The pro-union woodcut he publishes of a snake cut into eight pieces, entitled 'Join or Die', becomes America's first political cartoon.George Washington kills ten French troops at Fort Duquesne.
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