Not currently on display at the V&A

Costume design

Costume Design
1944 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Watercolour sketch showing a female figure in classically inspired costume, created by Cecil Beaton, possibly associated with a production of Crisis in Heaven by Eric Linklater, 1944.

Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was an English fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre.

The production of Crisis in Heaven was directed by John Gielgud, with Dorothy Green as Volumnia (mother of Coriolanus), Ernest Thesiger as Voltaire and Adele Dixon as Irene. It was staged at the Lyric Theatre in London in 1944. Beaton designed the sets and the costumes.

Eric Linklater’s (1899-1974) first commercial play, the production was an allegorical comic fantasy set in Elysium but which introduced key figures from across history. The more serious message about conflict which underlied the narrative was not popular however and the production was not a critical success. Beaton’s costumes, which ranged from togas to police uniforms intermingled styles from a range of eras, were described by the critic Beverley Baxter as ‘charming and unusual.’


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCostume design (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on cream paper.
Brief description
Watercolour sketch showing a female figure in classically inspired costume, created by Cecil Beaton, possibly associated with a production of Crisis in Heaven by Eric Linklater, 1944
Physical description
Line drawing of a tall female figure executed in watercolour paint on cream paper. The woman is shown in profile. She is wearing a classically inspired, pleated toga and is holding up a circular disc. A long veil is suspended from her plumed helmet.
Dimensions
  • Height: 39.5cm
  • Width: 24.4cm
Credit line
Given by the executors of Eileen Hose
Literary referenceCrisis in Heaven
Summary
Watercolour sketch showing a female figure in classically inspired costume, created by Cecil Beaton, possibly associated with a production of Crisis in Heaven by Eric Linklater, 1944.

Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was an English fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre.

The production of Crisis in Heaven was directed by John Gielgud, with Dorothy Green as Volumnia (mother of Coriolanus), Ernest Thesiger as Voltaire and Adele Dixon as Irene. It was staged at the Lyric Theatre in London in 1944. Beaton designed the sets and the costumes.

Eric Linklater’s (1899-1974) first commercial play, the production was an allegorical comic fantasy set in Elysium but which introduced key figures from across history. The more serious message about conflict which underlied the narrative was not popular however and the production was not a critical success. Beaton’s costumes, which ranged from togas to police uniforms intermingled styles from a range of eras, were described by the critic Beverley Baxter as ‘charming and unusual.’
Collection
Accession number
S.2134-2014

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Record createdOctober 23, 2014
Record URL
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