Jacob Tonson I
- Artist: Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
- Date: 1717
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 36 in. x 28 in. (914 mm x 711 mm)
- Portrays: Jacob Tonson I
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is a portrait of Jacob Tonson I in oil on canvas, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt in 1717. You’ll notice the sitter’s face framed in an oval canvas that measures about thirty‑six inches wide. His hair is neatly combed, and he wears a fine white collar with subtle shading suggesting a silk lining.
The painting sits inside a carved pine frame gilded in gold leaf—an architectural ‘architrave’ that matches the other forty‑one portraits of Kit‑Cat Club members. The frame’s scrollwork echoes the rococo style, while its cresting and corner projections hint at a later addition from 1733.
Kneller was prolific: he produced over one‑hundred‑and‑sixty‐nine portraits in his career, yet this work is one of only forty‑one dedicated to the Whig dining club. Tonson, a publisher and secretary of that club, had many colleagues painted by Kneller between 1697 and 1717. The portrait was later rehoused at Jacob Tonson’s Barn Elms House on the Thames, and today it hangs in the National Portrait Gallery as part of this remarkable set.
See it in person
Jacob Tonson I is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
