Mary Anderson as Pauline Deschappelles
Figurine
ca.1883 (made)
ca.1883 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This figurine shows the Californian actress Mary Anderson (1859-1940) in one of her most famous parts - Pauline Deschappelles in the historical drama The Lady of Lyons, or Love and Pride by Edward Bulwer- Lytton which she first played at the Lyceum Theatre in 1883.
Mary Anderson made her first appearance at Louisville, Kentucky, as Juliet in 1875. Her remarkable beauty created an immediate success, and she performed in all the large cities of the United States with increasing popularity. Between 1883 and 1889 she had several seasons in London, and in 1885 played Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It which opened the Shakespeare Memorial theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. Among her chief parts at London's Lyceum Theatre were Galatea in W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea, 1883; Clarice in Gilbert's Comedy and Tragedy which he wrote for her, 1884; Julia in The Hunchback, 1885, and Hermione and Perdita in The Winters Tale which she doubled in 1887.
Mary Anderson made her first appearance at Louisville, Kentucky, as Juliet in 1875. Her remarkable beauty created an immediate success, and she performed in all the large cities of the United States with increasing popularity. Between 1883 and 1889 she had several seasons in London, and in 1885 played Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It which opened the Shakespeare Memorial theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. Among her chief parts at London's Lyceum Theatre were Galatea in W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea, 1883; Clarice in Gilbert's Comedy and Tragedy which he wrote for her, 1884; Julia in The Hunchback, 1885, and Hermione and Perdita in The Winters Tale which she doubled in 1887.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Mary Anderson as Pauline Deschappelles (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Glazed porcelain |
| Brief description | Glazed porcelain figurine of the actress Mary Anderson (1859-1940) as Pauline Deschappelles in The Lady of the Lyons, or Love and Pride by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Lyceum Theatre, 1883 |
| Physical description | Glazed porcelain figurine of Mary Anderson in her costume as Pauline in The Lady of the Lyons, standing on a two-tier base with a semi-circular front and a straight back, wearing an Empire-line floor-length white gown sprigged with pink and red roses, square-cut at the neckline which is detailed as to imitate lace. She carries a blue shawl over her left arm which has a decorative border of gold flowers and which hangs down her back, falling by her right side over the base which is titled 'MARY ANDERSON'. She wears grey ballet-style shoes and holds a fan in her right hand, her left hand to her breast. Her brown hair is pinned up in an 18th-century fashion, and she has finely painted features. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | MARY ANDERSON (Impressed on the front of the base.) |
| Credit line | Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996 |
| Object history | The Lady of Lyons or Love and Pride by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 15 Febuary 1838 with W.C. Macready a Claude Melnotte and Helen Faucit as Pauline. The play became a perennial favourite in Victorian theatres, prized by all the great actresses of the age - Laura Keene, Ellen Terry, Mary Anderson, Lily Langtry - for the title role of Pauline Deschappelles. A romantic comedy about the vanities and pretentions of class, set in the upsidedown world of post-Revolution France, the play tells the story of beautiful socialite who is duped into marrying a self-educated gardner's son, Claude Melnotte, by a revengeful suitor, the former marquis, Beauseant. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This figurine shows the Californian actress Mary Anderson (1859-1940) in one of her most famous parts - Pauline Deschappelles in the historical drama The Lady of Lyons, or Love and Pride by Edward Bulwer- Lytton which she first played at the Lyceum Theatre in 1883. Mary Anderson made her first appearance at Louisville, Kentucky, as Juliet in 1875. Her remarkable beauty created an immediate success, and she performed in all the large cities of the United States with increasing popularity. Between 1883 and 1889 she had several seasons in London, and in 1885 played Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It which opened the Shakespeare Memorial theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. Among her chief parts at London's Lyceum Theatre were Galatea in W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea, 1883; Clarice in Gilbert's Comedy and Tragedy which he wrote for her, 1884; Julia in The Hunchback, 1885, and Hermione and Perdita in The Winters Tale which she doubled in 1887. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.1055-1996 |
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| Record created | July 5, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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