This plaster bust is a self-portrait of Sarah Siddons (1755-1831), made probably in the 1820s. Siddons was born Sarah Kemble, and was a member of the extraordinary Kemble family who dominated the British stage in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. When young she acted with William Siddons whom she married in 1773, against her parents' wishes. She first appeared as Lady Macbeth in London in 1785 and soon became London's leading actress, excelling in tragic and heroic roles. Lady Macbeth was also the part that Mrs Siddons chose for her farewell performance in June 1812. She also took up sculpture around October 1789, certain that she could produce better portraits of herself than many of the artists who had previously attempted to represent her. Siddons was the subject of nearly 400 portraits executed by many of the leading artists of the period, including Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). 1789-90 she retired from Drury Lane, partly on account of her ill-health. She was a friend of the sculptor Anne Seymour Damer, who produced a bust of Siddons as the Tragic Muse. In Damer's studio at Strawberry Hill, as Mrs Siddons mentions 'whenever she was with Mrs Damer they indulged in their passion for Sculpture'.