Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Description

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, c.1871

Oil on canvas

John Theobald Marshall (16th November 1849 - 1888)

A late-nineteenth century oil painting showing Anne Hathaway's Cottage from Cottage Lane with a female figure in the doorway and other figures in the road. This view of Anne Hathaway’s Cottage was extremely popular in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Undertaken by many artists it was reproduced on postcards, trinkets and pottery to feed the high demand for views of the cottage.

John Theobald Marshall was a local artist born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1849. His father, John Marshall, was a wood carver and cabinet maker and the family lived on Chapel Street. His mother, Eliza, was described in the 1851 census as an upholstress suggesting a family-run furniture making business. John Theobald initially trained in wood carving under his father before establishing himself as an artist. He is known to have signed some of his work using a monogram of his three initials. He married local woman Eliza Kitchen in 1874 and the couple had a son, Francis, born around 1877. After their marriage the couple lived in West Street. John Theobald died in 1888 at the age of just 39. Eliza went on to marry another local artist, William Wells Quatremain, in 1895.