{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O205795"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O205795/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MG7681/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MG7681/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019MG7681","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O205795/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O205795","accessionNumber":"S.41-2007","objectType":"Ceramic","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Earthenware flatbacks and figurines for mantelpiece decoration were first produced in  Staffordshire in the late 1830s.  The earliest datable Staffordshire figures appear to be those of Queen Victoria, who was crowned in 1837.  Images of royalty proved lucrative and during the 1840s Staffordshire pottery firms issued countless other royal figures. Although some appeared after Victoria's death in 1901, few were made after 1905.  During their heyday however they were produced in vast numbers, usually modelled after prints. As well as the royal family they represented a wide variety of subjects, those of actors and actresses being especially popular.\r\n\r\nThis represents William Charles Macready (1793-1873) as Macbeth, a part he first played at Covent Garden Theatre in 1820, and chose to play for his farewell performance on 26 February 1851. The son of a provincial actor-manager, Macready made his first stage appearance at Birmingham as Romeo, and made his London debut in 1816 at Covent Garden. By 1819 he was firmly established as a leading actor and a rival to the great Edmund Kean.  His Lear, Hamlet and Macbeth were especially acclaimed, prompting the critic Hazlitt to call him the best tragic actor of his day, with the exception of Kean. Macready worked hard to help restore the reputation of the theatre and was at times manager of both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres.","physicalDescription":"Flatbacked glazed earthenware figurine probably of Charles Macready as Macbeth standing on an integral base decorated to appear as if a grassy mound.  Part of the base is cream with a dark red line around it and the front of the mound is painted with the inscription MACBETH. He wears a burgundy-coloured tunic with a pink bottom edge and carries a shield on his left arm which is held close to his chest. He has black boots and a black hat with a pink feather at the front. There is an orange sword hanging from his waist and he holds an object in his right hand, possibly a knife.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"earthenware","id":"x29356"},{"text":"glaze","id":"AAT15091"},{"text":"porcelain","id":"AAT10662"},{"text":"Glaze","id":"AAT15091"},{"text":"ceramic","id":"AAT235507"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Moulded earthenware, with painted decoration","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Figures & Decorative ceramics","id":"THES48954"},{"text":"Earthenware","id":"THES48964"},{"text":"Scotland","id":"THES262877"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2019MG7681"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"006","id":"THES355485"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"figurines","id":"AAT47455"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Staffordshire","id":"x29181"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1840","earliest":"1835-01-01","latest":"1844-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"S.1000-1996","id":"O120133"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by John O'Donoghue","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"20.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"6.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"6.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"No marks","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":"Earthenware flat-back figure of William Charles Macready (1793-1873) as Macbeth, Staffordshire, ca.1840.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Staffordshire Portrait Figures of the Victorian Era</i> by P.D. Gordon Pugh, E422"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Victorian Staffordshire Figures 1835-1875</i>  Book 1.  A & N. Harding"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Macready, William Charles","id":"N2622"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["<i>Macbeth</i>"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.41-2007"],"accessionNumberNum":"41","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2007,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-20","recordCreationDate":"2009-03-24","availableToBook":true}}