Tinsel print of Edmund Kean as Richard and John Cooper as Richmond in Shakespeare's Richard III. Hand-coloured etching, published by W.S. Johnson between 1846 and 1860, and decorated with fabric, leather, and metallic foil, probably by H.J. Webb, ca 1920.

The making of tinsel pictures was a popular pastime in the first half of the 19th century. Images of theatrical stars of the day were favourites – these could be purchased as prints in either coloured or uncoloured form (known, according to their price, as ‘Penny Plain, Tuppence Coloured’), and then decorated with scraps of fabric, leather, metallic foil and feathers, which were glued to the image to create eye-catching, often fantastical, portraits. The hobby required some dexterity and was intended for adults rather than children, and such was its popularity that makers began to issue specially stamped and embossed metallic pieces (the tinsel), which could be bought with the corresponding print. The finished work was commonly displayed in a maple frame. The chief maker of tinsel decorations was James Webb, a gunsmith, whose great nephew H.J. Webb produced some of the best examples of tinsel prints in the 1920s using James’s stock of original prints and ornaments. This print was probably tinselled by H.J. Webb.

The print depicts the defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in the last act of Shakespeare’s play. John Cooper, as the Earl of Richmond, towers over the fallen Richard, played by star actor Edmund Kean. Kean (1787–1833) had made his name in London at Drury Lane Theatre in February 1814 with his performance of Richard, opposite Alexander Rae as Richmond. He first played Richard to Cooper’s Richmond at Drury Lane on Monday, 23 July 1821. That night was Kean’s first performance at Drury Lane after a year’s leave of absence to tour in America, during which John Cooper (1793-1870) had taken many of the tragic roles normally played by Kean. The star’s return was heralded earlier in the day by a triumphal procession through the streets, and that night the theatre was crowded with an enthusiastic audience who cheered Kean’s performance as had ‘never been heard before’.

Printmakers portrayed Kean in all his major roles. The etched copper plates from which the images were printed were copied from drawings made by artists during performances. Plates often passed from publisher to publisher, so popular prints of Regency actors, drawn during their lifetimes, were frequently reprinted and sold at later dates. The print of Richard III which forms the basis for this tinsel is undated but was issued between 1846 and 1860 by the London print-seller and publisher William Spencer Johnson, who specialised in portraits. The image had, however, been first published in 1838, by J. Fairburn, and by reprinting it Johnson shows the enduring fame of Edmund Kean.