Fame at the Tomb of Shakespeare

Fame at the tomb of Shakespeare. Embroidered picture, late 18th century, England. Fame at the tomb of Shakespeare. Embroidered picture, late 18th century, England. Copyright Victoria & Albert Museum, London, acc. no. 39-1874.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses an embroidered picture that represents 'Fame at the tomb of Shakespeare', or in full: 'Fame scattering flowers at the tomb of Shakespeare'. It was made in England and dates to the late eighteenth century.

The representation was taken from a print published in 1782 (and made by Francesco Bartolozzi), which in turn was based on a drawing by the Swiss artist and painter, Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807), who for some time in the 1760's and 1770's worked in London.

The embroidered picture measures 44,5 x 39,5 cm. The background material is silk, which is painted and embroidered in feather stitch. Curatorial information points out that these embroidered pictures were worked by girls and young women in order to show their skills in needlework, and thus had a comparable function as a sampler. This particular scene was very popular.

V&A online category (retrieved 28 October 2016).

WV

Last modified on Saturday, 29 October 2016 11:44
Published in Secular representations
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