William Hogarth was appointed Serjeant Painter to the King, a post at the royal court, in June 1757. He succeeded his brother-in-law, John Thornhill, who had resigned through ill health and died that September. John had held the post since 1732 when he in turn had succeeded his father, Sir James Thornhill.<\/p>\n
The Letters Patent<\/strong> A connection at court<\/strong> The annual fee paid was \u00a310, while the Rat-killer to the King got \u00a348 a year! However, it was worth considerably more because it gave Hogarth a monopoly on the painting and gilding of royal properties, vehicles, vessels, banners and tents. As his deputy oversaw the work, it was not a great burden for him. Hogarth was fortunate to be in office when state funerals and coronations occurred, so extra work, producing ceremonial items and replacing coats of arms, had to be carried out. The result was that his profits were substantial. In that first year he took \u00a3400, with nearly \u00a3700 in 1758, \u00a3947 in 1759 and in 1761, George III\u2019s coronation year, \u00a3982. He later estimated that the post contributed about \u00a3200 a year to his own income.<\/p>\n
\nA copy of the formal document or ‘letters patent’, recording the appointment, was purchased in 2004 by the William Hogarth Trust for display at Hogarth\u2019s House. The lower edge of the vellum was folded to carry a large seal but this no longer survives. The document uses what we think of as excessively flowery language to record both the end of John Thornhill\u2019s tenure of the post and the appointment of Hogarth in his place. It lists several times all the things for which the Serjeant Painter was responsible and the fact that the annual fee was to be paid to him quarterly.<\/p>\n
\nThis was one of the court posts in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire who had been made Lord Chamberlain the previous May. Hogarth already knew the Duke, having painted his portrait in 1741 when he was still Marquess of Hartington. In addition, both Hogarth and the Duke were friends of David Garrick, the actor, and the Duke had inherited Chiswick House by marriage.<\/p>\n