William Shakespeare
Louis François Roubiliac (1705-62)
England (London)
About 1758
Terracotta, made from modelled clay
Museum no. 32-1867
Purchased from Mr A. Myers

This is a preliminary sketch model for a marble statue made for the actor David Garrick and now in the British Museum. Garrick may well have posed for the figure. The head was probably taken from the earliest authenticated likeness of Shakespeare, the so-called Chandos portrait, of which Roubiliac had a copy.