Not currently on display at the V&A

Costume Design

Costume Design
1973 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Conwy Evans, Joyce (designers)
Place of origin
Great Britain (designed)

Textile and tapestry designer Joyce Conwy Evans has designed settings and costumes for a number of small scale opera companies. Her costume designs are impressionistic, suggesting the desired effect rather than the detail, and the use of spray painted backgrounds and a range of artists' materials give her brightly coloured designs for La Perichole the quality of contemporary fabric collages.


Object details

Categories
Entertainment & Leisure
Designs
Object type
Costume design
TitleCostume Design (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Paint, pencil, ink, metallic spray paint, crayon, sequins, foil and fabric swatches on paper pasted on card
Water-Base Paint
Spray-Paint
Ink
Pencil
Crayon
Sequin
Foil
Cloth
Paper
Card
Stencilling
Spray Painting
Painting (Image-Making)
Drawing (Image-Making)
Collage
Brief description
Costume design by Joyce Conwy Evans for the chorus of Merry-Makers in Act I of Jacques Offenbach's opera bouffe La Perichole, London Opera Centre production at Sadler's Wells, 1973
Physical description
Full length female figure with arms out stretched wearing a fringed triangular kaftan over a full length gathered skirt, both garments striped in orange and pale purple. On her head an elaborate turban striped in the same colours. Around her neck is a series of necklaces in 'gold' highlighted in silver foil and five sequins are used to represent pieces of jewellery. Fabric samples attached with a pin. Patches of gold spray-painted stencil design (doily used as a stencil) cover the whole. Design pasted on to a thin white card.
Dimensions
  • Includes backing card height: 63.5cm
  • Includes backing card width: 37.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Copper bangles and chains' (One of various instructions to costumiers, handwritten in pencil around the main figure.)
  • 'JCE' (Initials of designer; handwritten; pencil; midway between centre and bottom of right hand side of page.)
  • 'Chorus of the MerryMakers, Act 1 DWG.3A.' (Along bottom edge of backing board; handwritten, green ink)
Credit line
Given by Patricia Fara in memory of Stephen and Helen Fenlaugh
Object history
Costume designed for the chorus of Merry-Makers in Act I of Jacques Offenbach's opera bouffe La Perichole, London Opera Centre production at Sadler's Wells, 1973
Literary reference<i>La Perichole</i>
Summary
Textile and tapestry designer Joyce Conwy Evans has designed settings and costumes for a number of small scale opera companies. Her costume designs are impressionistic, suggesting the desired effect rather than the detail, and the use of spray painted backgrounds and a range of artists' materials give her brightly coloured designs for La Perichole the quality of contemporary fabric collages.
Collection
Theatre and Performance Collection
Accession number
S.62-2007

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Record createdApril 17, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O225481/costume-design-costume-design-conwy-evans-joyce/
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