Cymbeline
Design
1949 (made)
1949 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Design for a crown, clasp and sword hilt by Leslie Hurry for Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon. This production of Cymbeline was directed by Michael Benthall and was first performed on 21 May 1949.
Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Properties were made by Edward Blatch and accessories by Jack Wilson.
Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Properties were made by Edward Blatch and accessories by Jack Wilson.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Cymbeline (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Black ink, watercolour and blue pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Design for a crown, clasp and sword hilt by Leslie Hurry for Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1949 |
| Physical description | Pen and watercolour design on paper for a crown, clasp and sword hilt by Leslie Hurry for Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre 1949. The design shows a gold crown studded with red and green stones, a gold diamond-shaped clasp with a large red stone surrounded by four smaller green stones, and a gold hilt for a sword. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | Cymbeline
Crown
Clasp for cloak
Sword. (On front side in black ink) |
| Credit line | Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone |
| Literary reference | Cymbeline |
| Summary | Design for a crown, clasp and sword hilt by Leslie Hurry for Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon. This production of Cymbeline was directed by Michael Benthall and was first performed on 21 May 1949. Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit. Properties were made by Edward Blatch and accessories by Jack Wilson. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.1863-2014 |
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| Record created | August 12, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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