A small Birmingham enamel theatrical portrait plaque c.1780-90

A small Birmingham enamel theatrical portrait plaque c.1780-90, printed in manganese with a portrait of Samuel Reddish in the role of Young Bevil, set in a brass mount, 6cm overall.

Provenance: The Norman Stretton Collection, Phillips, 21st February 2001, lot 321.

The print is taken from a 1777 engraving in Bell's British Theatre, signed I Roberts, of Mr Reddish in his role in The Conscious Lovers. Samuel Reddish (1735-85) was an actor and director from Frome, who played Macduff opposite Garrick's Macbeth in 1767. In 1779 he began to show signs of forgetfulness, and in 1785 is recorded as dying in the York asylum as a lunatic.