Ophelia

In the mid-1840s, "Copeland and Garret" introduced an unglazed white ware, which they called Statuary porcelain, but which became more widely known as Parian ware. Parian ware was not inexpensive, but was more affordable than carved marble, leading to a great desire among member of the British middle class to acquire Parian ware statuettes and busts during the Victorian era. Between the late 1840s and the 1860s, Copeland produced many figure busts in Parian ware, both actual portraits and of mythological and literary figures. This Parian ware bust of Ophelia was made after a sculpture in marble by the Scottish artist William Calder Marshall. Ophelia was the daughter of Polonius in Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” and was a popular figure in art of the period, featured in many paintings, including Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais’s 1852 sensation. Similar to these painted depictions, in the ceramic bust Ophelia’s hair is loose and topped with a foliate crown. The bust’s socle is inscribed “Crystal Palace Art Union.” Founded around 1858 by Thomas Battam (who was employed by Copeland), the Crystal Palace Art Union was a private venture that sold ceramic work to subscribers. This bust was originally issued as a pair with a bust of another Shakespeare heroine, Miranda from “The Tempest,” also after a Marshall sculpture.