Charles Catton RA (1728 in Norwich – 28 August 1798, in London),[1] sometimes referred to as Charles Catton the elder, was an English coach painter, landscape, animal and figure painter of the late 18th century, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy of Arts.

[2] He was apprenticed to a London coach painter,[3] or, according to some sources, a carpenter by the name of Maxwell,[2] and studied drawing at the St. Martin's Lane Academy.

He was outstanding as a coach painter, producing ornamental panels for carriages, floral embellishments, and heraldic devices to the highest quality, eventually becoming coach-painter to King George III.

The works he showed were usually landscapes, but occasionally subject and animal paintings, his last exhibits there being Jupiter and Leda and Child at play.

[3][4] His son, Charles Catton the younger (1756–1819), who was listed in Royal Academy catalogues as living at his father's house in Gate Street, gained a reputation as a scene-painter and topographical draughtsman.