Dress designed by Leon Bakst for Mariuccia in The Good-Humoured Ladies or Les Femmes de Bonne Humeur; originally performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, on 12 April 1917 under the Italian title Le Donne di Buon Umore. It was a one act comic ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine to music by Domenico Scarlatti, orchestrated by Vincenzo Tommasini, based on the play by Carlo Goldoni.
The original designs for the set and costumes by Léon Bakst were more stylised and experimental, giving the performers the appearance of marionettes, but the production was revised and more traditionally re-designed for performances at the London Coliseum from 5 September 1918. The ballet remained in the Ballets Russes repertory until 24 March 1927 and was mounted for de Basil’s Ballets Russes in 1935.
The ballet is set in 18th century Venice at Carnaval and centres around a meal and focuses on a series of love affairs most notably that between Constanza and Rinaldo, hindered and assisted by Constanza’s vivacious maid Mariuccia. The role of Mariuccia was created by Lydia Lopokova later passed to Tamara Karsavina, Vera Nemchinova and Alexandra Danilova. There are a number of differences between the costumes worn by Lopokova and Karsavina and those worn by Nemchinova and Danilova (most notably the later dress is longer and the earlier costumes had additional bows) and this costume fits with images of the two later dancers. Indeed, Danilova has confirmed it appears to be the costume she, wore suggesting it was made in the mid-1920s