Kit-kat - kit-cat club

DEFINITION

A 36" X 28" format for portraits of dignitaries in England that in 1735 replaced the "reigning standard" measurements of 30" X 25" for bust length and 50" X 40" for three quarter length. Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1743), baroque portrait artist, founder of England's first art academy, and court painter to four kings popularized the "kit-kat" sizes. The name derived from the portrait subjects first used in the new format. They were members in London of the Kit-Cat Club, an upper-class group of political and literary figures who gathered at the Kit-Cat, a tavern owned by Christopher Cat (Kat), famous for its mutton pies called 'kit-kats'. Source: http://www.georgeglazer.com/prints/portraits/kneller.html