{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O112153"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O112153/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MG7691/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MG7691/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019MG7691","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O112153/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O112153","accessionNumber":"S.949-1996","objectType":"Ceramic","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Stars of the 19th century were often celebrated in paintings, prints and drawings, and in ceramic figurines. From the mid 1830s until the early 1900s several Staffordshire factories specialised in moulded earthenware portrait figurines which were decorated by hand and sold cheaply. This represents the American sisters Charlotte and Susan Cushman as Romeo and Juliet in Juliet's chamber, Act 111, scene v.  The pose was copied from a contemporary engraving published in Tallis's <i>Shakespeare Gallery</i>, 1852-1853, after an 1845 painting by Margaret Gillies.\r\n\r\nThe Cushman sisters came to England in 1844 and appeared at the Haymarket Theatre as Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare's <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, which opened on 30 December, and subsequently on tour in the provinces. Charlotte Cushman specialised in playing male parts or 'breeches roles' and played over forty such parts during her career but owed her greatest fame to her Romeo. Critics in the United States and Britain praised her passionate performances, one writing that 'as a lover, the ardor of her devotion exceeded that of any male actor I have ever seen in the part.' When Susan retired, Charlotte coached the novelist Matilda Hays as her Juliet.  Offstage, the couple lived together.\r\n\r\nAt least seven earthenware portrait figurines are known to have been copied from engravings in Tallis's <i>Shakespeare Gallery</i>, and these have become known as Tallis figures.  They were made in many sizes and are thought to have been made by the Burslem potters Thomas Parr, who was working from 1852 until 1870, John Parr, who worked from 1870 to 1879, or the Kent & Parr firm, who worked from 1880 until 1894. These manufacturers passed the moulds to each other and the figures were produced throughout the Victorian period.","physicalDescription":"Pair group of Charlotte and Susan Cushman as Romeo and Juliet, Juliet leaning against Romeo, her left arm across his chest and her right arm behind his back, with his left hand behind her head and her right hand below her left arm. They are both dressed in white with details picked out in gold.  They stand on an integral green and brown base representing a grassy mound with tree stump behind them","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Parr, Thomas","id":"A12729"},"association":{"text":"Made","id":"x28674"},"note":"possibly"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Clay","id":"AAT10439"},{"text":"Glaze","id":"AAT15091"},{"text":"porcelain","id":"AAT10662"},{"text":"ceramic","id":"AAT235507"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Moulded and glazed earthenware","categories":[{"text":"Earthenware","id":"THES48964"},{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Figures & Decorative ceramics","id":"THES48954"},{"text":"Gender and Sexuality","id":"THES48940"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Shakespeare","id":"THES253244"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2019MG7691"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES355482"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"figurines","id":"AAT47455"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Burslem","id":"x30231"},"association":{"text":"Made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1852","earliest":"1847-01-01","latest":"1856-12-31"},"association":{"text":"Made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"26.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"15.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"10.0","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Glazed pair group of Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876) as Romeo with her sister Susan Cushman as Juliet, Haymarket Theatre, 30 December 1845. Possibly made by Thomas Parr, Burslem, Staffordshire, c.1852. Earthenware","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Staffordshire Portrait Figures of the Victoria Era</i> by P.D. Gordon Pugh, p 421, fig.1."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Charlotte Cushman</i> by Clara Erskine Clement, edited by Laurence Hutton, pub. London, David Bogue."}],"production":"The pose was copied from an engraving published in Tallis's <i>Shakespeare Gallery</i> which in turn was copied from a painting by Margaret Gillies, 1845.\n\nAttribution note: Known as a Tallis Figure since the pose was copied from an engraving in Tallis's <i>Shakespeare Gallery</i>, 1852-1853.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Cushman, Charlotte","id":"N5300"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Romeo and Juliet"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.949-1996"],"accessionNumberNum":"949","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1996,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-23","recordCreationDate":"2005-05-20","availableToBook":true}}