Costume design by Attilio Comelli for a member of the chorus in Sybil at Daly's Theatre, 1921. Emile Littler Archive.

Costume design for a member of the chorus in Sybil at Daly's Theatre. It shows a full length image of a woman in a costume inspired by Russian 'dress'. It consists of a long, narrow dull red tunic, the hem bordered with a band of white fabric bordered on either side with gold. This under tunic fastens at the centre front with a vertical row of buttons mounted on a gold band. The cuffs of the long sleeves of this tunic are trimmed with a band of white fur. Over this under tunic she wears a short, elbow length cap, also dull red trimmed with a band of white fur around its base and with a white fur collar. At the centre front of the cape is a row of gold braiding and buttons. She also wears a pair of white gloves and a wide dark fur hat. The design is signed Comelli and dated 1921.
The borders of design are bound in a transparent gauze which is pinned in place. Beneath this gauze are several scraps of fabric, one a scrap of dark red silk woven with floral motifs, the other a scrap of silk velvet and the final scrap gold lame. A pair of hand drawn charts detailing the measurements of the actresses for whom the costumes are intended are pinned to the rear of the design.

Gift of the Estate of Emile Littler

Costume design by Attilio Comelli for a member of the chorus in a production of Sybil at Daly's Theatre, in 1921.

Sybil, or Szibill in the original Hungarian is an operetta with music by Victor Jacobi. The story follows Sybil, a singer from Paris, who arrives in Russia and meets an officer, Petrov who falls in love with her. There follows a case of mistaken identity in which Sybil is thought to be the wife of the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke goes along with this deception and his wife pretends to be Sybil. The Grand Duchess then becomes attracted to Petrov and the Grand Duke tries to attack him. After much confusion everyone's true identity is revealed and the play ends happily.

Comelli (1858-1925) was the house designer of the Royal Opera House from the late 1880s to the early 1920s. During this period he also worked for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and also designed costumes from a number of Gilbert&Sullivan productions.

This production of the play opened at Daly's Theatre, London on 19th February 1921.

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