Art work for a template for a plywood souvenir figure representing Leonide Massine as the Favourite Slave in Mikhail Fokine's ballet Schéhérazade. Pencil, pen and ink and gouache, 1920s.

Full length male figure with painted features in deep lunge to the right, the arms bent close to the body with the hands drooping, wearing a green blue band around the chest, decorated with white dots simulating pearls, and voluminous brown trousers daubed with gold paint, with a long deep rose red sash at the waist and gathered into a gold cuff at the ankle; over the instep are dull green blue 'cuffs' and the shoes are gold. The hair is covered by a deep rose red scarf tied in a knot at the back with loose tails. The figure stands on a black line representing the support. Pencil, pen and ink,gouache and gold paint, inscribed "Massine in Scheherazade / actual size", a monogram and signed.

Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest

NB: The term "negro" was used historically to describe people of black African heritage but, since the 1960s, has fallen from usage and, increasingly, is considered offensive. The term is repeated here in its original historical context.

The drawing is a template for a wooden cut-out figure of Leonide Massine as the Favourite Slave in Mikhail Fokine's ballet "Scheherazade" premiered by the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in 1910 with designs by Leon Bakst. The dance historian, bookseller and publisher, Cyril Beaumont, commissioned designs from various artists which were then executed by the Aldon Studios and coloured by hand for sale in Beaumont's shop at 75, Charing Cross Road. Massine danced the role in 1819 and 1919. In the Beaumont 1928 catalogue the role is identified as "The Gold Negro."
Beaumont had admired Caran d'Ache's satirical wood carvings of political personalities, and, about 1914, he conceived the idea of two-dimensional wooden figures of principal dancers of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes. The figures represented the dancers in cotume in a typical pose from the chosen work; they were cut out from two-ply wood, hand painted and mounted on detachable stands. Each design was limited to fifty copies, originally hand-coloured by the artist and issued at 7s 6d. They sold steadily. Adrian Allinson designed nineteen figures in all and after the War, Beaumont turned to other artists and commissioned a separate artist to execute the colouring.
A figure made to the template of S.690-2001 is included in The Complete Catalogue of the Publications of C. W. Beaumont, 1928, which lists 49 wooden figures. The Cyril Beaumont Bequest includes 40 examples of these (some not listed in the catalogue) plus 17 templates or art work for 16 different figures. 7 of these relate to wooden figures in the collection (two of which are not listed in the 1928 catalogue) and 8 to figures listed in the 1928 catalogue.
The 1928 catalogue included the following description of the cut-outs (p.25):
"These figures of celebrated dancers of the Diaghileff Ballet have been issued with a view to supply the demand for something between a photograph and a statuette - something that would preserve the memory of a dancer as she appeared in a particular ballet. Each figure is based on drawings made from sittings given by the dancer herself, and from sketches made during an actual performance. The designs are by the following artists: Adrian Allinson, Eileen Mayo, Vera Willoughby, also working under the name of Vera Petrovna, Randolph Schwabe and Ethelbert White. The figures, which are of wood, average 8 3/4 inches high, and are hand-coloured with special care to ensure accuracy of costume. The black stands on whcih the figures are mounted are easily removable to afford facility in packing. The figures are priced at 7s. 6d. net."

Historical significance: The making of the series of wooden figures, for which this template was produced, are a testimony to the popularity of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in London, and a growing 'popular' audience who demanded memorabilia and souvenirs. As the only specialist bookseller and publisher in London, and with access to the dancers and company, Beaumont was quick to identify the market and he commissioned the figures, prints and illustrated books to fulful the demand.

S.690-2001