Hair accessory in form of heather sprays possibly worn by Margaret Rolfe to parties given by the ballerina Marie Taglioni (1804-1884). Fabric and wire.

Sprays of artificial heather wired together to make a headdress.

Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest

This may be the wreath referred to by Margaret Rolfe on a card from 69 St. George's Square, S.W. "May 1951. Dear Mr Beanmont. Please excuse pencil but am in a great hurry. I thought you would like contents of this box as they belonged to Marie Taglioini. Part of her dress etc. The little wreath was worn by me at her birthday party. I hope to call soon when I have time. Yours most sincerely Margaret Rolfe." It is part of a unique collection of memorabilia and personal effects relating to the Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni which evoke Taglioni in the last decades of her life.
A collection of Taglioni memorabilia was amassed by Margaret Rolfe, the granddaughter of Taglioni's closest friend in London, Mrs Boggs Rolfe; she attended Taglioni's dancing classes and received many gifts of Taglioni memorabilia, from Taglioni herself, from her grandmother and, after Taglioni's death, from her niece, Marguerite Troubetzkoi. She kept these, with a series of related notes, in various boxes and annotated envelopes (filed separately). These she passed to Cyril Beaumont, probably for the London Archives of the Dance (a number of the objects were referred to in "The London Archives of the Dance and some of its Treasures" by Cyril Beaumont, Ballet Annual, first issue, Adam & Charles Black, London, 1947, p110); the Archives never achieved an independent home and part of the collection, including the Taglioni memorabilia, 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.

S.788-2001