Pears (soap) had so much success that Pears purchased the copyright to produce copies as advertisements for their soap products. They were made for shop counter displays in terracotta, plaster and metal. From the late 19th century, Pears soap was famous for its marketing, masterminded by Barratt. Its campaign using John Everett Millais's painting "Bubbles" continued over many decades. As with many other brands at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century Pears also used their product as a sign of the prevailing European concept of the "civilizing mission" of empire and trade, in which the soap stands for progress.
Mariana (Millais) is on the floor towards the bottom right corner is a detail that Millais took from Tennyson's poem: "the mouse behind the mouldering wainscots shriek'd or from the crevice peer'd about". Together, Millais' painting and Tennyson's poem create an intriguing storyline for the reader to follow. Mariana (Millais) Mariana is an 1851 oil-on-wood painting by John Everett Millais. The image is based on the solitary Mariana from William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure", written between 1601 and 1606. In the play, Mariana was to be married, but was rejected when her dowry was lost in a shipwreck. Her story was retold