An unknown woman, formerly known as Peg Woffington, with an unknown male attendant and a chairman

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

An unknown woman, formerly known as Peg Woffington, with an unknown male attendant and a chairman

attributed to Francis Hayman
oil on canvas, circa 1745
24 1/2 in. x 17 5/8 in. (622 mm x 448 mm)
Purchased, 1928
Primary Collection
NPG 2177

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Francis Hayman (circa 1707-1776), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 15 portraits, Sitter in 6 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The National Portrait Gallery acquired this picture in 1928 as a portrait of the actress Peg Woffington. We now think this identification is unlikely. The painting may not even be a portrait. Instead it might be a 'genre' scene that depicts a typical moment on the streets of an eighteenth-century English town. A middle-class woman wearing fashionable, modest costume is pulling on her gloves as she waits for her black page boy to summon the sedan chair, seen in the distance. 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 1745back to top

Current affairs

Second Jacobite Rebellion: the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart ('Bonnie Prince Charlie') lands in Scotland and proclaims his father king. Jacobite forces take Edinburgh and march into England as far as Derby but are forced to turn back due to lack of support.
The song later to become the British national anthem, God Save the King, is first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in a setting by Thomas Arne.

Art and science

William Hogarth completes the six paintings of Marriage-à-la-Mode, his satirical take on upper-class eighteenth-century society.
West towers of Westminster Abbey are completed
Satirical writer Jonathan Swift dies.

International

War of the Austrian Succession: the French army defeat Austrian, Dutch and British forces under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontenoy.
Madame de Pompadour becomes mistress to Louis XV of France.
Principle of the Leyden jar is discovered by German physicist, Ewald Georg von Kleist.
Artist Giovanni Batista Piranesi publishes the first of his Vedute (Views); a celebrated series of etchings of Rome.

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.