Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden

Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, painted in 1767, is one of at least three portraits Dance made of this influential jurist, reflecting Camden's political importance and his evident satisfaction with Dance as his portraitist. Camden's fame rested on his ruling in Entick v Carrington (1765), which declared that the government could not use general warrants to search private property — a precedent that influenced the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Dance presents the judge in his legal robes with the quiet authority appropriate to a man whose decisions shaped constitutional law. The precise rendering of the judicial costume and the sitter's composed expression create an image of principled authority.