Artwork
H Beard Print Collection
H Beard Print Collection is a print by the Romanticist artist E. Haytley. It dates from 1751 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Check the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more prints from the Haytley Beard Collection.
This print shows a woman dressed for a play from 1751. E. Haytley made it as a portrait of an actress, Mrs. Margaret Woffington. She’s in a Shakespeare scene, playing a character named Mrs. Ford.
It’s a single sheet meant to advertise the show or remember the night. Prints like this were cheap and easy to share, so lots of people saw it.
Check the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more prints from the Haytley Beard Collection.
Overview
This single‑sheet print, produced in 1751, depicts the actress Margaret Woffington in costume as Mrs Ford from Shakespeare’s *The Merry Wives of Windsor*. Executed by the engraver E. Haytley, the image was sold in London as a visual record of the performance.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents Woffington in the role of Mrs Ford, a central figure in the comedic plot. By foregrounding the actress in her theatrical attire, the print serves both as a portrait of a celebrated performer and as a representation of the play’s lively character.
Technique & Style
Haytley employed a line‑based engraving technique typical of mid‑eighteenth‑century theatrical prints. The work balances detailed rendering of costume and facial features with broader shading to suggest depth, allowing rapid reproduction while retaining recognizable likeness.
History & Provenance
Issued as a commercial print, the sheet was intended for wide distribution, functioning as advertisement and souvenir for audiences. It entered the Haytley Beard Collection, now held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it is catalogued among other contemporary theatrical ephemera.
Context
During the 1750s, portrait prints of actors and scenes were a popular means of promoting productions and celebrating star performers. Margaret Woffington, a leading Irish actress of the period, frequently appeared in such prints, reflecting the growing public interest in theatrical celebrity.
Artist & collection
Artist
This 18th-century printmaker carved everyday scenes in crisp lines. One of their surviving prints shows a lively London street scene — carts, shop signs, and passers-by all packed into a single sheet from 1751. Their…
