Enfilade

The Shakespeare in the Royal Collection (ShaRC) project is delighted to announce its fully searchable database of Shakespeare-related objects is now available online, at https://sharc.kcl.ac.uk/objects

The database comprises nearly 1,800 prints, drawings, photographs, paintings, books, decorative art objects, and Shakespeare-themed miscellanea, along with a range of digitised archival materials from the Royal Archives (including letters, diary entries, bills, and inventories, amongst others). It can be searched by a number of filters, including date and method of acquisition, as well as through a free-text field. Objects are accompanied by a short catalogue entry, written from an inter-disciplinary perspective, covering their history, their relationship to Shakespeare and to the historical royal family and, where known, the circumstances of their acquisition.

Shakespeare in the Royal Collection is a three-year AHRC-funded research project led by King’s College London, in collaboration with Birkbeck University of London and The Royal Collection Trust. It investigates the Shakespeare-related holdings in the Royal Collection and Royal Archives, 1714–1945, and provides new information about a broad range of objects created, collected, and displayed by generations of members of the royal family.