This tile showing W. T. Lewis (c.1746-1811) as Hippolitus in Phaedra and Hippolitus by T. Roseingrave, is one of a series of late 18th-century tiles of actors and actresses produced in Liverpool by John Sadler (1720-1789). Sadler experimented with transfer-printing on white glazed delftware tiles, transferring images from engraved copper plates to tiles, 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.

William Thomas Lewis was born in Lancashire, the son of a draper-turned-actor. Lewis was carried on stage as a baby and appeared as a child performer with his mother and stepfather's company. After performing in Dublin in the 1760s, Lewis made his London debut in 1773 at Covent Garden Theatre, the theatre with which he was associated for the rest of his working life. He was engaged there for 35 consecutive seasons and became well known for his portrayal of fashionable and flippant characters. In 1782 became the acting manager at Covent Garden, a position he held for 21 years.