William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare|John Chester Buttre|Jacob Houbraken

1856 · Steel engraving · Drawings and Prints

Buttre engraved this image of Shakespeare wearing a simple jacket and soft white collar for a 19th century American publication, basing the image on an 18th century engraving by Houbraken (see 17.3.756-2423). The latter had itself had been derived from the Chandos portrait of ca. 1610 (National Portrait Gallery, London), and the present work demonstrates how printmakers relied on established sources as they supplied the continued demand for likenesses of the Bard.

Artist

William Shakespeare|John Chester Buttre|Jacob Houbraken

Date

1856

Medium

Steel engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Mary Sheldon Lyon, 1947