Madame Céleste as Madeline in St Mary's Eve. Lithograph coloured by hand by M Gauci after a drawing by A E Chalon, 1838.

A girl stands weight on her right leg, her right hand raised, as though listening. On the right side of her head she wears a brimmed hat trimmed with a blue ribbon and her flower trimmed, ringletted hair is pulled over to fall over her left shoulder. She wears an off-the-shoulder, black bodice, trimmed with blue bows, with short sleeves from which fall lace flounces trimmed with a blue bow; around the neck and falling over the upper sleeves is a muslin frill. On her hands are fingerless black mittens. Her blue overskirt, trimmed with black, is pulled up on her right side to reveal a calf-length white skirt with broad vertical blue stripes. She stands against a wall with a window and, to the right of the print, a step ladder. The plate is cut across the top corners.
Printed: 'There is no one here - you can go now,' Act First - scene third

Given by Dame Marie Rambert

Madeline in St Agnes's Eve was Céleste's first speaking part; she uttered the words "My shee-ild! My shee-ild!". The print is part of the collection of dance prints amassed by Marie Rambert and her husband, Ashley Dukes in the first half of the 20th century. Eventually numbering 145 items, some of which had belonged to the ballerina Anna Pavlova, it was one of the first and most important specialist collections in private hands.
Rambert bought the first print as a wedding present but could not bear to give it away. As the collection grew, it was displayed in the bar of the Mercury Theatre, the headquarters of Ballet Rambert, but in 1968, Rambert gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum; seven duplicates were returned to Rambert, but these are catalogued in Ivor Guest's A Gallery of Romantic Ballet, which was published before the collection came to the V&A. Although often referred to as a collection of Romantic Ballet prints, there are also important engravings of 17th and 18th century performers, as well as lithographs from the later 19th century, by which time the great days of the ballet in London and Paris were over.

In the days before photography, such lithographs were expensive souvenirs, bought by the individual dancer's admirers.

as A E Chalon RA

Celine Céleste was a French dancer who was hugely popular throughout Europe and made a fortune in America; she was so popular that President Jackson introduced her to his Cabinet. She was, however, most at home in London, where she also developed into an actress and Madeline in St Agnes's Eve was her first speaking part - it was "My shee-ild! My shee-ild!". She never lost her accent, but French actresses have a way of endearing themselves to English audiences, so perhaps she didn't try very hard. She went on to play in burlesques of several ballets, including The Phantom Dancers, a send up of Giselle, and Le Diable Boîteaux (The Lame Devil).
In 1844 she joined Benjamin Webster in the management of the Adelphi, and, afterwards took the sole management of the Lyceum till 1861. She had a long-standing liaison with Ben Webster, manager of the Haymarket Theatre; he later took over the Adelphi and installed her as manageress, and she also later managed the Lyceum.

E.4986-1968