{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O123741"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123741/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9155/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9155/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AB9155","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O123741/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O123741","accessionNumber":"S.1057-1996","objectType":"Figurine","titles":[{"title":"The Merry Wives of Windsor figure group","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This is made of Parian ware, the unglazed development of biscuit porcelain which became very popular after the Staffordshire firm of Copeland and Garrett introduced it in 1842 as a medium for busts, statuettes and reliefs.  Several potteries marketed it under a different name but Parian ware became its generic name after Minton used 'Parian' to suggest Paros, the Greek island which supplied a lot stone used for Classical statuary.  Parian ware was not cheap but gave households the semblance of owning a marble bust or figurine, previously only afforded by the very wealthy.  The Worcester firm started their production of Parian relatively late, but after they launched a range at the Dublin Exhibition in 1853, James Hadley (1837-1903), their chief modeller, created a large number of decorative and useful wares for them, including the Shakespeare subjects Lady Macbeth and King Lear, while another modeller William Boynton Kirk produced a dozen figure groups based on characters from <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>.  \r\n\r\nThis is probably a Worcester piece and may well have been modelled by James Hadley.  It shows the scene from <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> when Mistresses Page and Ford humiliate Falstaff in retaliation for his amorous advances by hiding him in a laundry basket which Mrs. Ford's servants leave in the river.","physicalDescription":"Parian ware figure group on an integral base of a scene from <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> showing Falstaff being put into a basket of laundry by Mistresses Page and Ford, with one of the woman behind him holding a sheet, another at Falstaff's feet, a man behind her, and a man at Falstaff's head.  The front of the base incised THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Hadley, James","id":"A8462"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"probably"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"parian (porcelain)","id":"AAT219039"}],"techniques":[{"text":"moulding","id":"x46876"},{"text":"firing (heating)","id":"AAT53887"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Moulded Parian ware","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Figures & Decorative ceramics","id":"THES48954"},{"text":"Parian ware","id":"THES48916"},{"text":"Shakespeare","id":"THES253244"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2006AB9155"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES355443"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"figurine","id":"AAT47455"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Worcester","id":"x33938"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1850","earliest":"1845-01-01","latest":"1854-12-31"},"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":"20.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"14.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base, and maximum depth","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"28.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base, and maximum width","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Blue rosette-type mark on base","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Figurine representing Falstaff being bundled in a laundry basket by Mistresses Page and Ford in Shakespeare's play <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i>.  Parian ware, ca.1850","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>The Parian Phenomenon, a Survey of Victorian Parian Porcelain Statuary & Busts</i>, published by Richard Dennis, 1989."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Merry Wives of Windsor"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.1057-1996"],"accessionNumberNum":"1057","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1996,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-01","recordCreationDate":"2006-05-05","availableToBook":true}}