A 12x9.5" antique lithograph from a collection of Shakespeare prints we acquired from the UK estate of the Billie Love Historical Collection.

This is a gorgeous antique Victorian color printed Shakespeare illustration plate (lithograph-style), originally issued in William Mackenzie’s illustrated Shakespeare volumes. It’s a separately printed color plate that was originally tipped-in/mounted onto a larger page.

Photo Overview

Lively 1890 Victorian color illustration from William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, depicting Iago and revelers carousing in a boisterous tavern scene from Act 2 Scene 3, drawn by renowned Victorian artist Sir John Gilbert and printed in London for William Mackenzie’s deluxe illustrated Shakespeare series, from the UK estate of the Billie Love Historical Collection and originally issued as a tipped-in plate on its own heavy cream mount.

Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897) was one of the most influential Victorian illustrators of Shakespeare, creating hundreds of dramatic designs that shaped how 19th century readers visualized the plays; his Othello images, like this canakin drinking scene, were widely admired for their color and movement. This mounted plate comes from Mackenzie’s lavish multi-volume Shakespeare, produced for an upper-middle-class readership in late Victorian Britain, making surviving loose plates in good condition increasingly scarce and collectible today - add this striking piece of Shakespearean history to your cart now before another collector secures it first.

Print analysis:
This is a 19th century color lithograph-style book plate, not a modern reproduction photo. It was printed c1890 as part of William Mackenzie’s illustrated Shakespeare volumes and issued as a separately printed color plate tipped onto a larger sheet. As a printed illustration rather than a photographic print, Type 1-4 photo classifications do not strictly apply; in photo-collecting terms it is an original c1890 lithographic plate from the period of publication, not a later reprint.

Condition: Print is in good antique condition. Please see photos for any foxing, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.