Elizabeth West (née Shewell); Raphael West

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Elizabeth West (née Shewell); Raphael West

by Valentine Green, published by Robert Sayer, after Benjamin West
mezzotint, published 1770
5 7/8 in. x 4 1/2 in. (150 mm x 113 mm) paper size
Bequeathed by (Frederick) Leverton Harris, 1927
Reference Collection
NPG D14480

Sittersback to top

Artistsback to top

  • Valentine Green (1739-1813), Mezzotint engraver. Artist or producer associated with 149 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.
  • Robert Sayer (1724 or 1725-1794), Printseller and publisher. Artist or producer associated with 198 portraits.
  • Benjamin West (1738-1820), History painter and President of the Royal Academy. Artist or producer associated with 39 portraits, Sitter associated with 43 portraits.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG D37820: Elizabeth West (née Shewell); Raphael West (from same plate)

Placesback to top

Events of 1770back to top

Current affairs

Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford.

Art and science

Oliver Goldsmith publishes his poem The Deserted Village.
Philosopher and politician Edmund Burke publishes Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents discussing the limits of the King's authority.
17-year-old Thomas Chatterton, later hailed as a significant poet, commits suicide in a London garret.
Thomas Gainsborough paints his portrait of Jonathan Buttall, which later becomes known as The Blue Boy.

International

'Townshend duties' on imports into the colonies are repealed, except for the duty on tea. However, this concession is soon followed by the Boston Massacre, in which British troops fire into an unruly crowd in Boston, killing five.
Captain Cook reaches the eastern coast of Australia, at a place which he names Botany Bay. He discovers the Great Barrier Reef when HMS Endeavour runs onto it. Cook claims New South Wales for the British.

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