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Not currently on display at the V&A

Emile Littler Archive

Costume Design
1921 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Costume design by Attilio Comelli for a member of the chorus, seemingly a Russian Peasant, 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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleEmile Littler Archive (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and watercolour
Brief description
Costume design by Attilio Comelli for a member of the chorus, seemingly a Russian peasant, in a production of Sybil at Daly's Theatre, 1921. Emile Littler Archive.
Physical description
Costume design for a member of the chorus in a production of Sybil at Daly's Theatre. It shows a full length image of a woman in a costume loosely inspired by Russian 'peasant dress'. She is dressed in a white blouse, tawny bodice and skirt. Her bodice is sleeveless and fastens at the centre front in a row of buttons, it has a short, pleated, skirt which flares stiffly out from her waist. Both this bodice and her skirt are pale tawny with bands of darker brown/burnt orange at the hem and centre front. Beneath her bodice she wears a white shirt with wide sleeves gathered into to narrow cuffs with fit tightly to her forearm and button at the side. The upstanding collar of the shirt and the top of the sleeves are decorated with a band of brown decoration worked with delicate diamonds and spots. The narrow white apron she wears around her waist is also decorated in the same style. She also wears a close fitting dark tawny hat trimmed at the front with a closely pleated, upstanding, length of white fabric and two long white ribbons flowing from the rear. The design is signed Comelli and dated 1921.

The borders of design are bound in a transparent gauze which is pinned in place. A hand drawn chart detailing the measurements of the actress for whom the costume was intended is pinned to the rear. Also bound beneath the gauze, at the top of the design, is a scrap of burnt orange/brown fabric. A further sketch on ruled paper showing details of the over skirt blouse and bodice in pencil is also pinned to the rear of the design.
Dimensions
  • Height: 36.2cm
  • Width: 26.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Comelli 1921 (Handwritten annotation in ink to the left of the design)
  • 17 (Handwritten annotation in blue crayon at the top right of the design)
  • Miss Norman [series of measurements]/ E. Walters [series of measurements]/Marley [series of measurements]/B.Walters [series of measurements] (Handwritten annotation in red and black ink on the chart on the rear of the design)
  • Back (Handwritten annotation in pencil on the paper pinned to the rear of the design)
  • Transliteration
Credit line
Gift of the Estate of Emile Littler
Literary referenceSybil
Summary
Costume design by Attilio Comelli for a member of the chorus, seemingly a Russian Peasant, 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.
Associated object
THM/144 (Series)
Other number
THM/144 - Archive number
Collection
Accession number
S.2823-2010

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Record createdNovember 5, 2010
Record URL
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