Ellen Terry as Portia and Sir Henry Irving as Shylock, from The Merchant of Venice
This small metal stand with two parakeets, containing miniature portraits of Ellen Terry and Sir Henry Irving, was described as a paperweight when it was accessioned. In the miniatures, Ellen Terry is shown as Portia and Henry Irving as Shylock, both characters from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Terry and Irving played these roles alongside each other in a run of 250 performances of the play at the Lyceum Theatre, London, in 1879. As well as performing, Irving was also director and theatre manager.
