Not currently on display at the V&A

Tae-Ming Theatre, Shanghae (sic)

Silk Programme
1854 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Silk and satin theatre playbills and programmes were frequently produced in the 18th and 19th centuries to commemorate special theatrical and musical events, the less expensive ones with integral fringing made from fraying cut edges, and the more expensive with separately applied silk or metallic fringes. This programme is not fringed but was printed with an intricate Chinese decorative border. It celebrates the opening of a season at the Tae-Ming Theatre, Shanghai, under the management of Horatio Buskin, beginning on 8 March 1854.

According to the programme, the plays that opened the season – A Fast Train-High Pressure-Express and The Practical Man - were performed by British actors, some extremely well-known in London, including the comic actors John Pritt Harley (1786-1858), Paul Bedford (1792-1871), and the singer and actress Priscilla Horton (1818-1895), and the scenery was designed by the eminent painter and Royal Academician Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793-1867). In the 19th century actors did undertake extensive international tours. However there is a problem with the starry performances announced here: none of the players named on this programme ever travelled to China, and though Clarkson Stanfield did sail to Whampoa (Huangpu) in 1815 when serving as an able seaman, that was his only visit to the country.

The most likely explanation is that the silk programme is an elaborate ‘spoof’ advertising an amateur production in the British trading/ diplomatic community at Shanghai and using the names of distinguished theatre figures as a joke. The theatre’s fictitious manager, Horatio Buskin, has been named after the thick-soled boots worn by actors of Ancient Greek tragedy, which became associated with acting in a grand tragic style.

A similar silk programme for the Tae-Ming Theatre, dated 5 April 1854, was sold at auction in November 2015 in Hong Kong by Charlotte du Rietz Rare Books. That playbill (not in the V&A’s collection) announced an evening comprising performances of A Race for a Dinner, Anything for a Change, and Box and Cox, with scenery apparently provided by the famous British scene painters, Thomas Grieve and William Telbin.







Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTae-Ming Theatre, Shanghae (sic) (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Dark blue and red printing ink on cream silk
Brief description
Silk programme for the opening of a season at the Tae-Ming Theatre, Shanghai, Wednesday, 8 March 1854
Physical description
Cream silk programme printed with a decorative red border and dark blue lettering giving details of the productions on 8 March 1854 and of Horatio Buskin's tenancy of the theatre.
Dimensions
  • Height: 38.8cm
  • Width: 24.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
Transliteration
Credit line
Given by Mrs. M.R.T. Momber
Association
Summary
Silk and satin theatre playbills and programmes were frequently produced in the 18th and 19th centuries to commemorate special theatrical and musical events, the less expensive ones with integral fringing made from fraying cut edges, and the more expensive with separately applied silk or metallic fringes. This programme is not fringed but was printed with an intricate Chinese decorative border. It celebrates the opening of a season at the Tae-Ming Theatre, Shanghai, under the management of Horatio Buskin, beginning on 8 March 1854.

According to the programme, the plays that opened the season – A Fast Train-High Pressure-Express and The Practical Man - were performed by British actors, some extremely well-known in London, including the comic actors John Pritt Harley (1786-1858), Paul Bedford (1792-1871), and the singer and actress Priscilla Horton (1818-1895), and the scenery was designed by the eminent painter and Royal Academician Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793-1867). In the 19th century actors did undertake extensive international tours. However there is a problem with the starry performances announced here: none of the players named on this programme ever travelled to China, and though Clarkson Stanfield did sail to Whampoa (Huangpu) in 1815 when serving as an able seaman, that was his only visit to the country.

The most likely explanation is that the silk programme is an elaborate ‘spoof’ advertising an amateur production in the British trading/ diplomatic community at Shanghai and using the names of distinguished theatre figures as a joke. The theatre’s fictitious manager, Horatio Buskin, has been named after the thick-soled boots worn by actors of Ancient Greek tragedy, which became associated with acting in a grand tragic style.

A similar silk programme for the Tae-Ming Theatre, dated 5 April 1854, was sold at auction in November 2015 in Hong Kong by Charlotte du Rietz Rare Books. That playbill (not in the V&A’s collection) announced an evening comprising performances of A Race for a Dinner, Anything for a Change, and Box and Cox, with scenery apparently provided by the famous British scene painters, Thomas Grieve and William Telbin.





Collection
Accession number
S.604-2018

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Record createdDecember 13, 2018
Record URL
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