Photograph of a tableau originally performed at 21 Cromwell Road and arranged by James Sant RA (1820-1916). Four actors perform the parts of Bassanio, Portia, Gratiano and Nerissa in Act 3 Scene 2 of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. The players are gathered in a room with a painted backdrop decorated with a wall mirror. Kneeling next to a small table and opening a small casket to find a miniature of Portia is Bassanio, played by Arthur Ram, who exclaims "What find I here? Fair Portia's counterfeit!". Portia is probably played by Alice Mainwaring (1852-78); Nerissa by the daughter of James Sant, Sarah Fanny Constance Sant (1856-1948) and Gratiano by Alfred J de Sterne. 

Inside the casket, Bassanio finds a picture of Portia together with a poem and upon declaring his love for her, they decide to marry. The play is set in sixteenth-century Venice and was written between 1596 and 1598. It tells the story of a merchant who is forced to default on a large loan provided by an abused Jewish moneylender. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh acted as Royal patrons to the performances and with Princess Louise, viewed the performances at 21 Cromwell Street, home to the architect, Charles Freake (1814-84). The proceeds raised by the performances were donated to the National Orphan Home and the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children.