Costume Design
1884 (Drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Costume design for the four swallows danced by Misses Geresh, Hemmings, Patti and Sismondi in the Snow Ballet which was a feature of Offenbach's Le Voyage dans la lune. The design was executed by Wilhelm for the revival of Offenbach's opera bouffe by the Alhambra Company (not acknowledged in the programme) in A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune) at Her Majesty's Theatre, London 1883-4. The Snow Ballet was one of the most influential ballets of the C19th and gave rise to a fashion for snow ballets (which survive in the Land of Snow scene in The Nutcracker) The Alhambra Ballet's production was choreographed by Aime Bertrand but almost certainly would have been based on Justamant's original versions of the ballet. Georges Jacobi was the music director for the production. It was presented at Her Majesty's Theatre while the Alhambra was being rebuilt after the fire.
The inscription '"LES HIRONDELLES. / BY WILHELM / FOR ALHAMBRA BALLET / LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE / 1884" suggests thisd may have been a worked up design after the production's premiere.
Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) is an 1875 opéra-féerie in four acts and 23 scenes by Jacques Offenbach. Loosely based on the novel From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, its French libretto was by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier and Arnold Mortier. It premiered on 26 October 1875 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris and was subsequently produced internationally.
The inscription '"LES HIRONDELLES. / BY WILHELM / FOR ALHAMBRA BALLET / LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE / 1884" suggests thisd may have been a worked up design after the production's premiere.
Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) is an 1875 opéra-féerie in four acts and 23 scenes by Jacques Offenbach. Loosely based on the novel From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, its French libretto was by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier and Arnold Mortier. It premiered on 26 October 1875 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris and was subsequently produced internationally.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink, watercolour and gouache on paper |
| Brief description | Costume design by Wilhelm (1858-1925) for the four swallows in the ‘Snow Ballet’ choreographed by Aime Bertrand performed by the Alhambra Ballet in Offenbach’s A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London 1883-84. |
| Physical description | Full length female figure facing left dressed in dark blue costume in the form of a swallow, with hood, the orange eye to the back of the head over the brim edged with yellow that forms the beak, that fits over the forehead. The costume is fitted to waist with the lower sleeves forming wings from the elbow and the tails of the costume extending into tail feathers; from under the costume to top thigh a feather skirt. The hands are concealed in an orange pink muff edged with white fur and the legs are grey with white shoes. The background and figure are dotted with white dots simulating snow. Pen and ink, watercolour and gouache on plaper mounted on card. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | London Archives of the Dance |
| Object history | The design was executed by Wilhelm for the revival of Offenbach's opera bouffe Le Voyage dans la Lune at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1883-4. The design was originally attached to an acidic card backing to which a calendar had probably been fixed. The back of this card was inscribed in pencil "London Archives of the Dance". The card was removed during Conservation and not retained.The design was originally part of the London Archives of the Dance; the Archives never achieved an independent home and part of the collection was stored with Cyril Beaumont, where it became inextricably mixed with his own collection and came to the Museum as part of the Cyril Beaumont Bequest. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Costume design for the four swallows danced by Misses Geresh, Hemmings, Patti and Sismondi in the Snow Ballet which was a feature of Offenbach's Le Voyage dans la lune. The design was executed by Wilhelm for the revival of Offenbach's opera bouffe by the Alhambra Company (not acknowledged in the programme) in A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune) at Her Majesty's Theatre, London 1883-4. The Snow Ballet was one of the most influential ballets of the C19th and gave rise to a fashion for snow ballets (which survive in the Land of Snow scene in The Nutcracker) The Alhambra Ballet's production was choreographed by Aime Bertrand but almost certainly would have been based on Justamant's original versions of the ballet. Georges Jacobi was the music director for the production. It was presented at Her Majesty's Theatre while the Alhambra was being rebuilt after the fire. The inscription '"LES HIRONDELLES. / BY WILHELM / FOR ALHAMBRA BALLET / LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE / 1884" suggests thisd may have been a worked up design after the production's premiere. Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) is an 1875 opéra-féerie in four acts and 23 scenes by Jacques Offenbach. Loosely based on the novel From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, its French libretto was by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier and Arnold Mortier. It premiered on 26 October 1875 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris and was subsequently produced internationally. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.242-2000 |
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| Record created | November 8, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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