William Shakespeare
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- 7 days ago
- In this state since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the sculpture
There was a flourishing market in the 19th century for small, decorative ceramic items, especially for earthenware figurines of actors and actresses. Small mass-produced busts such as this were also popular: when displayed in the home they suggested that the owner was a cultivated person. Several different figurines and busts were produced of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) by Staffordshire pottery firms, especially around the time of the tricentenary of his birth in 1864.
Read on
This bust appears to have been based on an engraving of the Chandos portrait of Shakespeare which some consider to be the most reliable record of his appearance. Now in the National Portrait Gallery, it was owned by the actor Thomas Betterton, painted probably between 1603 and 1610, showing Shakespeare as a rather swarthy middle-aged man with a receding hairline, goatee beard and moustache. Another famous early depiction of Shakespeare is the copper engraving by Martin Droeshout published as a frontispiece to the First Folio in 1623, but since the artist was only fifteen when Shakespeare died, he probably worked from descriptions of Shakespeare by his friends.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- S.198-1983
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 7 days ago
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
