Tom Matthews (1805-1889) is depicted in a characteristic Regency Clown outfit comprising a tricorn wig, a comical ruff with jagged points, and a striped and spotted tunic, breeches and tights. His tunic is cut away in a circle to reveal his waistcoat, straining over a bulging stomach.

Known as 'the Clown with a mouth like Piccadilly Circus', Matthews was a pupil of the great clown Joseph Grimaldi and joined the company at Sadler's Wells Theatre in the early 1820s, at about the time when pantomimes at Sadler's Wells became principally a Christmas rather than an Easter or Whitsuntide attraction. He made a name for himself as a clown in the 1820s in London theatres including the Olympic and Sadler’s Wells, and trained the clown Jefferini who himself appeared as clown at Sadler's Wells. Matthews excelled in comedy, dance and singling and appeared in pantomime at Covent Garden and Drury Lane where he worked for over forty years as its principal clown. He made his farewell appearance at Drury Lane Theatre in the Christmas 1864 production of Hop o' my Thumb and his Eleven Brothers!; or, Harlequin and the Ogre of the Seven-Leagued Boots.