WEDGWOOD BLACK BASALT BUST OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

WEDGWOOD BLACK BASALT BUST OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE date code for 1865, impressed uppercase mark and A, after a sculpture by John Cheere (1709-1787), the bearded bard modeled in doublet and shirt collar, truncated at the shoulder, on a waisted circular socle, h: 13 in.

Provenance: Jeffrey Milkins Collection, no. 471.

Catalogue Note:
Robin Reilly, â Wedgwoodâ , Vol. I, p. 450, notes in February of 1774, the London based sculptor, John Cheere, supplied Wedgwood with busts of Shakespeare, Plato, Homer and Aristotle. Commissioned by the actor David Garrick in 1769, Cheere is recorded creating a life-size lead figure of Shakespeare for the jubilee celebrations in Stratford-on-Avon. For a closely related marble bust, see The Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 36980. The Trust example, acquired by George IV, is usually kept in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle.