Bolero, part of a costume from an unidentified production and previously thought to have been created for a Spaniard in the Ballets Russes production of Le Bal, 1929

Short bolero style jacket in tones of black, green and cream.

The jacket has a soft open collar with narrow revers. The interior is lined with cream fleece and it is open at the front, with no fastenings.

The proper right and rear panels and proper right sleeve are made from a black cotton velvet. Whilst the proper left front and rear panels (and sleeve) are made from a lighter weight pale green cotton.

Both front panels feature decorative curved motifs in tones of cream and black (proper left) and green (proper right). These have been appliqued to the ground fabric.

On each side of the front opening are 3 large non-functional black buttons, each with 3 black cotton cords, finishing in gold aiglets, suspended from the centre.

The proper right sleeve is also decorated with appliqued green motifs in a sun shaped pattern.

Larger curved appliqued motifs, positioned in a spiral formation, have been used to decorate the rear panels of the bolero with green on the black (proper right) side of the centre back seam, and cream on the green (proper left) side of the centre back seam.

The sleeves are long and follow the line of the arm (fitting fairly closely). The cuff of each sleeve features a large decorative cream and black cotton tassel at the front. A further small cream cotton tassel is present at the rear cuff of the proper left sleeve. The shoulders feature imitation epaulettes formed from stiff tabs of cream buckram[?] painted in black with vertical lines and circles.

Bolero, part of a costume from an unidentified production and previously thought to have been created for a Spaniard in the Ballets Russes production of Le Bal, 1929.

S.848-1980