This tile showing David Garrick (1717-1779) as Sir John Brute in The Provok'd Wife by Sir John Vanburgh 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 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) who painted him as Sir John Brute. Garrick first played the role at Drury Lane in 1744; it became one of his most popular parts which he often played there over the next thirty years.