This bust represents Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), the prolific Austrian composer who is sometimes called the father of symphonies and string quartets. He trained as a choirboy and sang with the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, from circa 1740 to circa 1750, and for 30 years served as Kapellmeister with Hungary's leading Esterházy family, for whom he wrote music for both entertainment and the church, and acted as musical director. He visited London twice where he performed before the royal family and composed his last twelve symphonies.

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.