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Tile
Sadler, John, born 1720 - died 1789 - Enlarge image
Tile
- Place of origin:
Liverpool, England (made)
- Date:
ca.1775 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Sadler, John, born 1720 - died 1789 (maker)
Zoffany, born 1733 - died 1810 (artist)
Dixon, John, born 1735 - died 1811 (engraver) - Materials and Techniques:
Tin-glazed earthenware
- Credit Line:
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996
- Museum number:
S.628-1997
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This tile shows David Garrick (1717-1779) as the simple-minded Abel Drugger in The Alchemist by Ben Jonson. It is one of a series of late 18th-century tiles of actors and actresses produced in Liverpool by John Sadler (1720-1789). Trained as a printer, Sadler experimented with transfer-printing on white glazed delftware tiles, transferring images from engraved copper plates using enamel colours fixed in low-temperature firing.
Actors and actresses could become big stars in the18th century, when theatres, concert halls and pleasure gardens were the major forms of public entertainment. Engravers regularly produced images of paintings of the most popular performers, so the ability to reproduce engravings on ceramics was a lucrative development. Since the engravings were transfer-printed, the original images appear on the tiles in reverse.
Garrick was the most famous British actor of the 18th century who was recognised during his lifetime as one of the greatest actors ever in both comedy and tragedy. He was born in Hereford, came to London in 1737 and made his London debut as a performer in 1741. He managed the Theatre Royal Drury Lane from 1747 until 1776 and was depicted in many of his most famous roles during his lifetime, especially in paintings by Johann Zoffany (1733-1810). Zoffany's 1770 painting of Garrick as Abel Drugger was reproduced as an engraving by Dixon in 1771 and used by Sadler for this tile.
