Gallery Title
Gallery Title
Staffordshire earthenware figure Jenny Lind
Accession Number NWHCM : 1971.592
Description
Staffordshire earthenware figure of the singer Jenny Lind (1820-1887); kneeling, her arms round the pedestal of a Celtic cross; painted in enamel colours; brown hair, green bodice with orange sash; skirt with scarlet, orange and green pattern; cross pink an yellow; named in gilt 'Jenny Lind'. She is in the character of Alice in a popular opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer 'Robert le Diable', a part she first played in 1847.
Read MoreStaffordshire earthenware figure Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind (1820-1887) was a famous opera singer known as the 'Swedish Nightingale'. She first visited the UK in 1847. Her biggest concert was in London, and attended by Queen Victoria. As part of this tour she also gave a sell-out concert in Norwich.
This earthenware figure commemorates Lind's 1847 visit. It shows her in her role as a character in a popular opera of the time, Robert le Diable, by the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer.
Staffordshire potteries, the centre of the UK pottery industry, produced numerous figures like these. Moulded and painted on one side only, they were known as 'flatbacks'. They were simple and cheap to make, so new flatbacks were produced regularly in response to current events, portraying a wide variety of famous people: royalty, politicians, actors and sportsmen.
Jenny Lind was enduringly popular in Norwich. Always charitable, Lind gave funds from her Norwich concerts to help found a children's hospital. A children's ward in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital still bears her name.
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