Poster advertising 'Number Nip or, Harlequin and the Gnome King of the Giant Mountain', 1866
Poster
1866 (printed)
1866 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
By the 1860s pantomimes at Drury Lane Theatre were lavish and lengthy affairs featuring a wealth of scenery and effects, and huge casts. For this pantomime, opening as usual at Drury Lane Theatre on Boxing Night, the scenery designed by William Beverley and his assistants Messrs Pitt, McLauchlan and Yarnold included The Retreat of Romance (by Sunset), Willow Island of the Drachenfels on the Rhine (by Moonlight), a Farm and Romantic Landscape in Silesia with Distant View of the Valley of the Riesen-ge-burge, the Palace of Number Nip in the centre of the Earth, the Interior of a Shoemaker's Cottage (by Flat Candlelight), the Trysting Place of the Water Fairies, and the Giant Mountain. The scenes in the Harlequinade after the Transformation Scene included Old Street, New Street, Clown's Chambers, a Fairy Fair and Foresters' Fete, and Bird's Stone and Marble Gallery, Euston Road.
The play starred the dwarf Percy Roselle as the Gnome King Number Nip, and featured a hundred dancers as the Nixes, or sprites in German mythology who were half human and half fish, who also danced as fairies and dolls. Despite its length, the pantomime was not the only item on the bill which opened at 7pm with the 'laughable farce' The Day after the Wedding. The poster and playbills for this production both advertise the 'morning performances' or 'matinees' at 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during January.
The play starred the dwarf Percy Roselle as the Gnome King Number Nip, and featured a hundred dancers as the Nixes, or sprites in German mythology who were half human and half fish, who also danced as fairies and dolls. Despite its length, the pantomime was not the only item on the bill which opened at 7pm with the 'laughable farce' The Day after the Wedding. The poster and playbills for this production both advertise the 'morning performances' or 'matinees' at 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during January.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Poster advertising 'Number Nip or, Harlequin and the Gnome King of the Giant Mountain', 1866 (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Printed ink on paper |
| Brief description | Poster advertising the pantomime Number Nip or, Harlequin and the Gnome King of the Giant Mountain, by E. L. Blanchard, opening on 'Boxing Night' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 26 December 1866. Letterpress, printed by J.W. Last, Strand, London |
| Physical description | Typographic. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Gabrielle Enthoven |
| Object history | The pantomime was designed by William Beverley and directed by Edward Stirling. The characters in the opening scene are listed as Miss Lydia Thompson, Miss Estelle Bodenham, Mrs. H. Vandenhoff, Miss Hudspeth, Moss Lotti Wilmot, Miss Brougham, Miss Lytton, Miss Seymour, Miss Collier, and Mdlle. Ferena Stussey of the Imperial Academy Paris, and premiere danceuse of the Royal Opera, Dresden. Other actors featured on the playbill are Mr. Tom Matthews, Mr. F. Barsby, Mr. Fitzjames, Mr. C. Seyton, Mr Joseph Robins, Mr. E. Clifton, and Master Percy Roselle. The pantomime had a double Harlequinade with Harry Boleno and Mr. Charles Lauri as Clowns, Mr. W.A. Barnes and Mr. J. Morris as Pantaloons, Mr. Cormack and Mr. S. Saville as Harlequins, and Mdlle. Boleno and Mdlle. Adele Marion as Columbines. The masks, devices and dresses were designed by Dykwynkyn (Richard Wynn Keene), the music selected and arranged by Mr. J.H. Tully, the choreography by Mr. John Cormack, machinery by Mr. Tuckers and assistants, gas illumination by Mr. J. Hinkley, properties by Mr. Needham and assistants, dresses by Samuel May and Mrs. Lawler, with comic scenes and tricks by Harry Boleno and John Cormack. |
| Production | Heathcock Court, 414 Strand, London |
| Summary | By the 1860s pantomimes at Drury Lane Theatre were lavish and lengthy affairs featuring a wealth of scenery and effects, and huge casts. For this pantomime, opening as usual at Drury Lane Theatre on Boxing Night, the scenery designed by William Beverley and his assistants Messrs Pitt, McLauchlan and Yarnold included The Retreat of Romance (by Sunset), Willow Island of the Drachenfels on the Rhine (by Moonlight), a Farm and Romantic Landscape in Silesia with Distant View of the Valley of the Riesen-ge-burge, the Palace of Number Nip in the centre of the Earth, the Interior of a Shoemaker's Cottage (by Flat Candlelight), the Trysting Place of the Water Fairies, and the Giant Mountain. The scenes in the Harlequinade after the Transformation Scene included Old Street, New Street, Clown's Chambers, a Fairy Fair and Foresters' Fete, and Bird's Stone and Marble Gallery, Euston Road. The play starred the dwarf Percy Roselle as the Gnome King Number Nip, and featured a hundred dancers as the Nixes, or sprites in German mythology who were half human and half fish, who also danced as fairies and dolls. Despite its length, the pantomime was not the only item on the bill which opened at 7pm with the 'laughable farce' The Day after the Wedding. The poster and playbills for this production both advertise the 'morning performances' or 'matinees' at 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during January. |
| Associated object | S.123-2007 (Object) |
| Bibliographic reference | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.4605-2013 |
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| Record created | December 24, 2013 |
| Record URL |
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