Not currently on display at the V&A

Poster

1904 (designed), 1904 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster was designed by Charles Buchel (1872-1950) to advertise the original production of J.M. Barrie's children's play Peter Pan which opened at London's Duke of York's Theatre on 27th December 1904. Barrie was very unsure of the reaction it would provoke, and when he read an early draft to the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree the previous April, Tree decided Barrie had gone mad since it was so unlike any play ever written before and called for complicated technical flying effects.

Despite not wanting Barrie to mount Peter Pan at his theatre, Tree may have suggested the poster artist since Charles Buchel had a professional association with Tree who owned His Majesty's Theatre. For over 16 years Buchel produced an immense amount of work for Tree, designing posters, souvenirs, programme illustrations and portraits in connection with 35 productions or more. This was not the only poster used to advertise Peter Pan though, since another was printed from a Native American painting by Ben Nicholson, the young son of the designer for the production.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Printed paper
Brief description
Poster advertising the first production of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Duke of York's Theatre 27 December 1904. Colour lithograph by Charles Buchel.
Physical description
Colour lithograph poster showing Peter and Wendy flying left to right through a star-lit sky above a seaside village scene with church. There are lights in the windows of the houses and the church has a tall spire surmounted by a cockerel.
Dimensions
  • Height: 64.7cm
  • Width: 91.0cm
Credit line
Gabrielle Enthoven Collection
Object history
The poster was printed to advertise J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan which opened at the Duke of York's Theatre on 27 December 1904.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This poster was designed by Charles Buchel (1872-1950) to advertise the original production of J.M. Barrie's children's play Peter Pan which opened at London's Duke of York's Theatre on 27th December 1904. Barrie was very unsure of the reaction it would provoke, and when he read an early draft to the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree the previous April, Tree decided Barrie had gone mad since it was so unlike any play ever written before and called for complicated technical flying effects.

Despite not wanting Barrie to mount Peter Pan at his theatre, Tree may have suggested the poster artist since Charles Buchel had a professional association with Tree who owned His Majesty's Theatre. For over 16 years Buchel produced an immense amount of work for Tree, designing posters, souvenirs, programme illustrations and portraits in connection with 35 productions or more. This was not the only poster used to advertise Peter Pan though, since another was printed from a Native American painting by Ben Nicholson, the young son of the designer for the production.
Collection
Accession number
S.258-1998

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Record createdJuly 1, 2005
Record URL
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