Not on display

Patience

Wig
ca. 1920s
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Wig for the character of Bunthorne in W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's operetta Patience, 1920s. First performed in 1881, Patience was Gilbert and Sullivan's sixth collaboration. The comic opera is a satire of the popular "aesthetic movement" of the 1870s and 1880s.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePatience (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Human hair on silk gauze
Brief description
Wig for Bunthorne in Arthur Sullivan's opera Patience, 1920s
Physical description
Wig of mid-length brown human hair with a white streak at the front. The hair has been stitched into a cap of silk gauze. The gauze over the forehead has been covered by flesh-coloured stage make-up. At some point the wig was re-lined with a second layer of gauze, stitched over the original cap.
Dimensions
  • Circumference: 56.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
'W Clarkson, 45'
Credit line
Given by the British Theatre Museum Association
Object history
Given to the British Theatre Museum Association by Bridget D'Oyly Carte in November 1966.
Summary
Wig for the character of Bunthorne in W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's operetta Patience, 1920s. First performed in 1881, Patience was Gilbert and Sullivan's sixth collaboration. The comic opera is a satire of the popular "aesthetic movement" of the 1870s and 1880s.
Other number
1966/A/224 - BTMA accession number
Collection
Accession number
S.1421-1984

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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