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James Ferguson

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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James Ferguson

by Robert Stewart, after John Townsend
mezzotint, published 7 December 1776
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D1944

Sitterback to top

  • James Ferguson (1710-1776), Astronomer, instrument maker and scientific lecturer; miniature painter. Sitter in 3 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Robert Stewart (active 1776-1786), Engraver and modeller of portraits in wax. Artist associated with 8 portraits.
  • John Townsend (active 1776-1778). Artist associated with 4 portraits.

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback 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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