the Kit-Cat Club
/ðə ˈkɪt kæt klʌb/
/ðə ˈkɪt kæt klʌb/
- an early 18th-century club whose members included Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, William Congreve and Robert Walpole. The club was named after Christopher (Kit) Cat, a cook whose house was used as a meeting place. Pictures of the members were painted in a smaller size than usual to fit on the club walls, and pictures this size are still known as ‘kit-cat portraits’.