Richard Cosway; Maria Louisa Catherine Cecilia Cosway (née Hadfield); probably Ottobah Cugoano

Identify sitters

probably by Thomas Rowlandson, formerly attributed to Richard Cosway
etching, 1784
11 1/2 in. x 14 1/4 in. (293 mm x 362 mm) plate size; 12 5/8 in. x 15 1/2 in. (322 mm x 393 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1960
Reference Collection
NPG D34151

Sittersback to top

Maria Louisa Catherine Cecilia Cosway (née Hadfield) (1760-1838), Miniature painter; pioneer of girls' education. Sitter associated with 7 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits. Identify
Richard Cosway (1742-1821), Miniature painter. Sitter in 16 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 99 portraits. Identify
Ottobah Cugoano (John Stuart) (circa 1757-after 1791), Slavery abolitionist and writer. Sitter associated with 1 portrait. Identify

Artistsback to top

Richard Cosway (1742-1821), Miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 99 portraits, Sitter in 16 portraits. Identify
Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827), Satirical draughtsman. Artist or producer associated with 29 portraits, Sitter associated with 4 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

Schama, Simon, The Face of Britain: The Nation Through its Portraits, 2015-09-15, p. 175

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1784back to top

Current affairs

Theatre proprietor and postal reformer John Palmer runs the first mail coach in England, between Bristol and London. A three day journey is now completed in 16 hours.
Commutation Act reduces punitive duties on tea to combat smuggling.

Art and science

Aeronaut James Sadler makes the first hot air balloon flight in Britain, from Oxford to Woodeaton.
Chemist Henry Cavendish's paper Experiments on Air reveals the composition of water.
Writer Samuel Johnson dies.
Joshua Reynolds succeeds Allan Ramsay as Painter to the King.

International

Thomas Jefferson's Land Ordinance passed by the United States' Continental Congress, coming into effect the following year. It allows for the sale of land in the largely unmapped west of the country.
Britain receives its first bales of cotton from the United States since before the War of American Independence.
William Pitt's India Act creates a Board of Control to oversee the affairs of the British East India Company and centralise power.

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