Moving Toy - drinking man
This figure has a painted papier-mache head, and wears its original clothes. The silk coat and trousers are now in poor condition, with the silk fibres shredding and breaking away.
The figure holds ...
Moving Toy - hat raising doll
This wooden figure holds a wooden top hat.
A black lace is attached to the figure's shoulder. When the lace is pulled, the figure lifts up its hat.
Nell the Rat Hunter
This is an oil painting on canvas depicting a dog rat-catching with two men in a country setting. In the bottom left corner is an inscription which reads 'by Jno. Whitehead 1852' and there is also a ...
Pony and trap whirligig
This whirligig is in the form of a man and woman sitting in a horse-drawn trap. It is made of polychrome wood and metal, and is mounted with a propeller. As the propeller turns, the horse's legs move ...
Pony and trap whirligig
This whirligig is in the form of a man and woman sitting in a horse-drawn trap. It is made of polychrome wood and metal, and is mounted with a propeller. As the propeller turns, the horse's legs move ...
Pony and trap whirligig - 3/4 view
This whirligig is in the form of a man and woman sitting in a horse-drawn trap. It is made of polychrome wood and metal, and is mounted with a propeller. As the propeller turns, the horse's legs move ...
Portrait of Daniel Lambert
This is an oil painting on canvas depicting Daniel Lambert, the celbrated fattest man on record. In 1805 he resigned as Keeper of Leicester Gaol to both make a tour of England drawing large crowds, and ...
Postman whirligig - detail of head
This whirligig, a postman, is made of polychrome pine, with metal shoulder joints. The postman wears a dark uniform with buttons down the front and a flat cap. Unlike the sailor or soldier whirligigs, ...
Postman whirligig - front
This whirligig, a postman, is made of polychrome pine, with metal shoulder joints. The postman wears a dark uniform with buttons down the front and a flat cap. Unlike the sailor or soldier whirligigs, ...
Postman whirligig - side
This whirligig, a postman, is made of polychrome pine, with metal shoulder joints. The postman wears a dark uniform with buttons down the front and a flat cap. Unlike the sailor or soldier whirligigs, ...
Pottergate, Richmond, Yorkshire - detail of figure
This is a detail of an oil painting on canvas depicting a streetscene in Richmond, Yorkshire. This is Harry Pickall, private postman to the Marquis of Zetland in 1847 when this picture was painted by ...
Rag Doll
Rag dolls, made from fabric, have been popular for hundreds of years. They could be made at home, using any scraps of material and trimming.
Factory-made rag dolls date from the mid 19th century. By ...
Raphael Holinshed, The... Chronicles , London for George Bishop, 1577, - Elizabethan men at a meeting, woodcut, page 119, detail.
John Shakespeare, an alderman of Stratford.
When William Shakespeare's father, John, a glove-maker by trade, attended aldermen's meetings in Stratford-upon-Avon in the 1560s and 1570s, the council ...
Raphael Holinshed, The... Chronicles, 1577 - 'History of England', p.46.
Shakespeare's source for England's mythical history.
The woodcut illustrations of the first edition of Holinshed’s work depicting scenes of battle and warfare are in contemporary dress, with ...
Raphael Holinshed, The... Chronicles, 1577 - harvest woodcut, 'History of Scotland', p. 232.
A harvest scene, from a book known to Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s parents both came from farming families so he knew well that everyone in country districts would help with cutting and sheaving ...
Raphael Holinshed, The... Chronicles, 1577 - Kings Cymbeline and Guiderius, 'History of England' p.47.
Shakespeare's source for Cymbeline.
Besides the story of Guiderius, which was based on myth and legend, Shakespeare found, in the 'Chronicles of Scotland', a tale of a nobleman and his two sons fighting ...
Raphael Holinshed, The... Chronicles, 1577 - Macbeth and Banquo, woodcut, 'History of Scotland', p.243, detail.
Shakespeare's source for Macbeth's meeting with the weird sisters.
This woodcut, from Holinshed's first edition of 'The Chronicles of Scotland' shows the meeting of Macbeth and Banquo with the three ...
Raphael Holinshed, The... Chronicles, 1577 - woodcut of King from page margin, p. 219.
A marginal woodcut that draws attention to an English king studied by Shakespeare.
The first edition of Holinshed’s Chronicles woodcuts is illustrated throughout, and the kings are presented ...