Nell Gwyn
1 portrait of Nell Gwyn







© National Portrait Gallery, London
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Nell Gwyn
by Henry Richard Cook, published by Mathews & Leigh, after Sir Peter Lely
stipple engraving, published 1 August 1807
7 1/4 in. x 4 3/8 in. (185 mm x 110 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D30621
Sitterback to top
- Eleanor ('Nell') Gwyn (1651?-1687), Actress; mistress of Charles II. Sitter associated with 30 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Henry Richard Cook (active 1804-1849), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 66 portraits.
- Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 843 portraits, Sitter in 19 portraits.
- Mathews & Leigh (active 1807-1814), Publishers. Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1807back to top
Current affairs
Act is passed abolishing the British slave trade after vigorous campaigning by hundreds of thousands of people led by Thomas Clarkson and championed in parliament by reformer William Wilberforce.Resignation of 'Ministry of all the Talents'. Whig politician William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, Duke of Portland, succeeds as Prime Minister.
Art and science
Thomas Hope publishes Household Furniture and Interior Decoration; influential in promoting Greek and especially Egyptian models as the epitome of fashionable style.International
French invasion of Spain and Portugal.Britain occupies Copenhagen and captures the Danish fleet.
Napoleon begins to wage an economic battle against Britain, recognising the impossibility of victory at sea because of Britain's superior naval power. He aims to close the entire European coastline to British trade.
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