Bidspirit auction | A large cream-coloured earthenware presentation

A large cream-coloured earthenware presentation bowl produced by Shand Kydd Pottery of Staffordshire, England. The bowl features intricate black transfer-printed illustrations by the artist Fritz Wegner. The interior well displays a central cartouche containing the Seven Ages of Man speech from William Shakespeare's As You Like It, topped with a portrait of the playwright and his coat of arms. It is accompanied by its original blue-textured presentation box and a paper information insert quoting Thorndike's Shakespeare's Theatre, which confirms this is number 145 of a limited edition of 900 pieces. Peter Shand Kydd was notably the stepfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.