Robert Prescott

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Robert Prescott

by John Bogle
watercolour and bodycolour on ivory, 1776
1 3/8 in. x 1 1/8 in. (35 mm x 29 mm) oval
Purchased, 1955
Primary Collection
NPG 3963

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • John Bogle (circa 1746-1803), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 4 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 384
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 504
  • Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 79 Read entry

    John Bogle practised as a miniaturist in Edinburgh and London. His portrait of General Robert Prescott, dated 1776, shows Prescott as Colonel of the 28th Regiment, and was probably painted to celebrate this appointment. Prescott joined the army in 1755, served with General James Wolfe and was present at the battle of Long Island and the storming of Fort Washington in 1775. He was Governor of Canada from 1797 to 1807, though he returned to England in poor health in 1799 and his duties were thereafter carried out by deputies.

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1776back to top

Current affairs

Tahitian visitor to London Omai returns home with Captain James Cook on his third voyage. During his two-year stay he inspired a play and was painted by Joshua Reynolds.
Member of Parliament David Hartley unsuccessfully introduces a motion to the House of Commons calling for the abolition of the slave trade.

Art and science

Edward Gibbon produces the first volume of his monumental The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Artist John Constable is born.
Scottish economist Adam Smith analyses the nature and causes of prosperity in his magnum opus The Wealth of Nations.

International

American War of Independence: George Washington raises a new American flag on Prospect Hill, Boston. In an anonymous pamphlet entitled Common Sense, English immigrant Thomas Paine is the first to argue that the American colonies should be independent. Declaration of American Independence on 4 July.

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