A kit-cat portrait or kit-kat portrait is a particular size of portrait, less than half-length, but including the hands. The name originates from a series of portraits which were commissioned from Godfrey Kneller

Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...

 for members of the Kit-Cat Club

Kit-Cat Club

The Kit-Cat Club was an early 18th century English club in London with strong political and literary associations, committed to the furtherance of Whig objectives, meeting at the Trumpet tavern in London, and at Water Oakley in the Berkshire countryside.The first meetings were held at a tavern in...

, to be hung in their meeting place at Barn Elms

Barn Elms

Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.It is located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham....

. Each canvas was thirty-six inches long, and twenty-eight wide The size is said to have been determined because the dining-room ceiling of the Kit-Kat Club was too low for half-size portraits of the members.