Costume Design
late 19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Costume design by P Croce for a Potato in the ballet in Amor. Brown potato-shaped body covering head and neck and body to knees, the arms and legs covered with single 'leaves', and a scarf headdress like a pudding basin tied with a white band above lower edge. Pen and ink and watercolour over pencil. Annotated.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink and watercolour over pencil on card |
| Brief description | Costume design by P Croce for a Potato in the ballet in Amor, late 19th century |
| Physical description | Costume design by P Croce for a Potato in the ballet in Amor. Brown potato-shaped body covering head and neck and body to knees, the arms and legs covered with single 'leaves', and a scarf headdress like a pudding basin tied with a white band above lower edge. Pen and ink and watercolour over pencil. Annotated. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Gallery label | Gallery rotation, 2020
COSTUME DESIGNS FOR AMOR
1886
From a series of ten vegetable-themed costume designs for the ballet Amor, these sketches depict a potato, carrot, sweet chestnut and radish. The leafy foliage would have moved elegantly with the dancers’ movements – although their steps may have been restricted by the bulky bodysuits. Sadly, as no examples of the finished costumes have survived, we do not know what they actually looked like.
Designed by P. Croce
Pencil and watercolour on card
Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest
Museum nos. S.231, 232, 234, 235-2000(2020) |
| Credit line | Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest |
| Object history | This costume was designed for the ballet Amor, and may relate to the ballet with choreography by Luigi Manzotti premiered at La Scala, Milan, in 1886. Although unsigned it is clearly one of the group of designs by P Croce which came to the Museum as part of the Cyril Beaumont Bequest and was probably acquired by him as illustrations for his various publications on design for the ballet. Four of the designs (this design S.235-2000, with S.232-2000, S.235-2000 and S.354-2001) from the group of ten in the collection were reproduced in Beaumont's Five Centuries of Ballet Design, published by The Studio Ltd, London, nd. Historical significance: An example of a costume in the shape of a vegetable from one of the large spectacular realistic productions which characterised Italian ballet in the late 19th century. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.235-2000 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | December 21, 2000 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
