Harbutt, born in North Shields, was the inventor of plasticine. He went into production in 1897, and his material, at first grey, then in four colors by 1900, proved enormously popular with art students and the public. Harbutt is responsible for trillions of hours of childhood pleasure and adult therapy - not to mention Morph and Wallace and Gromit.
In 2010 James May entered a garden entirely made of plasticine at the Chelsea Flower Show. It featured a large bust of William Harbutt.