James Watt

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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A mechanical engineer who trained as a mathematical instrument-maker, James Watt invented the condensing steam engine in 1765. He took Matthew Boulton as his partner in 1775, and developed an improved version of this engine which revolutionised industry and immortalised Watt's name, inaccurately but effectively, as the 'inventor of the steam engine'.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

James Watt

Date

c.1797

Medium

oil on bevelled mahogany panel

Measurements

H 19.1 x W 14.6 cm

Accession number

663

Acquisition method

Given by Sir Theodore Martin, 1882

Work type

Painting

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National Portrait Gallery, London

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