{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O108605"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108605/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9214/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9214/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AB9214","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O108605","accessionNumber":"S.198-1983","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"William Shakespeare","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"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.\r\n\r\nThis 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.","physicalDescription":"Glazed earthenware bust of William Shakespeare on an integral pedestal base with black sides, the front of which is decorated with a raised image of a gold trophy, against a green ground, underneath which is the name 'Shakspere' in gold. He has black hair and a black beard and moustache. He wears a purple cape and a blue shirt with a white collar decorated with gold curled patterns and tassels and fastened with gold buttons. The integral base is a four sided plinth curving upwards from a rectangular base.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"makers","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"earthenware","id":"x29356"},{"text":"glaze","id":"AAT15091"}],"techniques":[{"text":"moulding","id":"x46876"},{"text":"firing (heating)","id":"AAT53887"},{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"},{"text":"glazing (coating)","id":"AAT53914"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Glazed eartheware","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Figures & Decorative ceramics","id":"THES48954"},{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Shakespeare","id":"THES253244"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2006AB9214"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES355428"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"busts","id":"AAT47457"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Staffordshire","id":"x29181"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1900","earliest":"1895-01-01","latest":"1904-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"S.2631-1986","id":"O108608"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"S.334-1987","id":"O109184"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"S.200-1998","id":"O109558"},"association":"Object"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"17","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum, edges of cape","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"11.0","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"8.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base, also maximum","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"9.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'114 / 4 Nov 1982': (2)","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Sale room labels on back"},{"content":"'218039'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Marked on back"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Glazed earthenware, Staffordshire, ca.1900","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Victorian Staffordshire Figures 1835-1875</i> Book One, by A. & N. Harding, p.126, fig.314"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Shakespeare, William","id":"N15"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.198-1983"],"accessionNumberNum":"198","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1983,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-08","recordCreationDate":"2005-01-17","availableToBook":true}}