The guards who appear at the end of the ballet Scheherazade are variously described as Aides de camp to the Shah or Suite to the king. Their purpose was to come on an kill the unfaithful ladies of the harem and were performed by 'extras'. These costumes which may well date back to the original production in 1910 (the labels are pre-War style) have been worn by various performers and received a lot of battering. The labels in the jackets claim they are for 'figurantes' non-dancing individuals, The original costumes were made by Mlle Muelle, Paris, and although the production for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes was refurbished in 1915 and 1918 it is unlikely that the costumes for the extras were renewed and continued to be used by Colonel de Basil’s Ballets Russes from the 1930s

Schéhérazade described variously as a Choreographic Drama or Persian Tale in one act was choreographed by Mikhail Fokine. Its narrative attributed to Léon Bakst and Michel Fokine was inspired by the first tale of The Thousand and One Nights and the score by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The popular tale of sex and violence in the harem was famed for its colourful jewel-like scenery and costumes by Léon Bakst and initial performances from Vaslav Nijinsky and Ida Rubinstein who danced at the first performance at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris on 4 June 1910. Schéhérazade was first performed by the Ballets Russes in London on 20 July 1911 at the Royal Opera House and Diaghilev’s company gave their final performance of this ballet on 12 May 1929 at Monte Carlo