Shakespeare

Woven on silk:-

SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE	ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE
image of Shakespeare
STATFORD CHURCH	SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL

Printed at bottom of card-mount:-
WOVEN IN PURE SILK BY T. STEVENS, COVENTRY. 
 
SHAKESPEARE 
AND VIEWS OF STRATFORD. 

Card-mount:
18.4cm deep by 13.4cm wide

silk:
10.8cm deep by 6.4cm wide

by Austin Sprake:
Above the portrait are views of "Shakespeare's Birthplace" and "Anne Hathaway's Cottage", while below are views of "Stratford Church" and "Shakespeare Memorial". 

by Geoffrey Godden:
A biography of this famous English dramatist and poet would surely be superfluous. Sufficient to state that William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-on-Avon in April 1564, and he died in the spring of 1616.

The Stevens silk picture shows a central portrait of William Shakespeare surrounded by named views of Shakespeare's Birthplace; Anne Hathaway's Cottage; Stratford Church; and Shakespeare Memorial.
The full title SHAKESPEARE AND VIEWS OF STRATFORD is printed on the card-mount, which is normally of type C - although later types are found.

This subject occurs, very rarely, on a card-mount bearing the title in German, with 'Carl Neiss & Co.' in place of the normal Stevens credit (see so464).

The short title SHAKESPEARE was first included in a Stevens advertisement of July 1887 and on label 23+26+2 of 1887. It continues to be featured on labels into the twentieth century - even those which include George V.

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