Costume designed by Léon Bakst for Vaslav Nijinsky for the divertissement under the umbrella title of Le Festin first performed in Serge Diaghilev's Saison Russe, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris in May 1909. Originally presented by Diaghilev under the title ‘L'Oiseau de feu’ it was essentially a reworking of Marius Petipa’s ‘Bluebird’ pas de deux from the fairy tale divertissement in The Sleeping Beauty. In the divertissement Nijinsky appeared as an oriental prince (his costume being completed with a turban) and his partner (Tamara Karsavina) was the bird. This pas de deux went through several titles and changes of costume for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes; from 1915 becoming a stand-alone item The Enchanted Princess. The original costume, made in Russia, is extremely heavy for a dancer performing virtuoso steps and jumps. It consists of a short-sleeved tunic of mustard-gold silk embroidered with gold ovals and green silk circles, with gold jersey inner sleeves set with metal studs. Down the centre front is a cream panel embroidered with a spray of blue flowers below a rose ending in a drop pearl. It is edged with gold embroidery, artificial pears and topazes. The lower edge of the panel is finished with a pearl fringe. The tights are of gold jersey fixed on a band of yellow cotton jersey, the legs banded with small silver domed studs.
The V&A owns a second copy of this costume S.548-1973, made in Paris, which it appears was made for Stanislas Idzikowski for Aurora’s Wedding in 1922.