Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford

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Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford

by John Faber Jr, after Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
mezzotint, 1733
14 in. x 9 7/8 in. (355 mm x 250 mm) plate size; 16 1/8 in. x 11 in. (409 mm x 281 mm) paper size
Given by Sir Herbert Henry Raphael, 1st Bt, 1913
Reference Collection
NPG D19606

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • John Faber Jr (circa 1695-1756), Engraver and portrait and miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 818 portraits.
  • Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1646-1723), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 1689 portraits, Sitter associated with 30 portraits.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG 3220: Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (after)

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1733back to top

Current affairs

Prime Minister Robert Walpole narrowly escapes defeat in the House of Lords over the investigation into the South Sea affair. His Excise scheme, introduced the previous year, also provokes widespread resistance among merchants and is withdrawn.
Sugar and Molasses Act is passed by Parliament to tax British colonists in North America.



Art and science

John Kay, working in the Lancashire woollen industry, patents the flying shuttle to speed up weaving.
Poet Alexander Pope publishes his philosophical Essay on Man, which proposes a system of ethics in poetic form.
Clergyman Stephen Hales publishes the second volume of his Statical Essays, Haemastaticks, describing the measurement of the 'force of the blood', later known as blood pressure.

International

Philip V of Spain and Louis XV of France sign the Treaty of Escurial and form an alliance against Britain.
Voltaire publishes Letters on the English Nation comparing France unfavourably with England.
British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia.

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