This bust represents Ludwig van Beethoven ( 1770-1828), the brilliant German pianist and composer who had his first music published when he was twelve years old, and made his first concert apearance in Vienna aged fifteen. Beethoven was born in Bonn but moved to Vienna in 1792 when Haydn invited him to study with him, and lived there until his death. Unlike any other composer before him, his music made him a great public figure. When he died, a vast crowd, estimated at between 10,000 and 30,000 people, assembled for his funeral.

This bust is made of Parian or statuary ware, which was a fine-grained, waxy porcelain resembling white Parian marble, developed in the 1840s by Copeland and Minton. Parian ware items were much admired at the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, London in 1851, and in New York's own Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1853, and soon became a favourite medium for portrait busts and parlour ornaments. This continental bust was probably produced in the mid to late 19th century, along with busts of other famous composers including Mozart, Haydn and Wagner.