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The Black Cape

Print
1893 (drawn), 1907 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (artist)
Place of origin
Britain (drawn)
Leipzig (city) (printed)

Black and white print depicting Salome in profile wearing an extravagant black cape and flowing skirt adorned with stylised floral and decorative motifs. She is also wearing a small bonnet, perched on top of her elongated hair and holds a white fan, folded in her right hand.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Illustration
Theatre
Books
Designs
Object type
print
Titles
  • The Black Cape (assigned by artist)
  • Salome (series title)
Materials and techniques
Line block print
Ink
Paper
Line Block
Brief description
Line block print of an illustration by Aubrey Beardsley, 'The Black Cape', plate III for Oscar Wilde's 'Salome', 1893. Printed in Germany, 1907.
Physical description
Black and white print depicting Salome in profile wearing an extravagant black cape and flowing skirt adorned with stylised floral and decorative motifs. She is also wearing a small bonnet, perched on top of her elongated hair and holds a white fan, folded in her right hand.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 178mm
  • Image width: 126mm
  • Sheet height: 241mm
  • Sheet width: 176mm
Styles
Nouveau
Aestheticism
Production typeMass produced
Literary referenceOscar Wilde's Salome
Bibliographic references
  • The following excerpt is from Aubrey Beardsley (published 1909 by John Lane) by Ross, Robert Baldwin, 1869-1918; Vallance, Aymer, 1862-1943; Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951: 'The Black Cape. A burlesque, substituted for a drawing of John and Salome, which was printed but withheld, and subsequently published in "Early Work." (Property of John Lane, Esq.)'
  • The following excerpt is from p. 45 of Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Volume II, Linda Gertner Zatlin, Yale University Press, 2016: 'Showing the Princess's pale flesh and her fan, Beardsley joins two speeches in which the young Syrian describes Salome: The Young Syrian: How pale the Princess is! Never have I seen her so pale. She is like the shadow of a white rose in the mirror of silver...The Princess has hidden her face behind her fan! Her little white hands are fluttering like doves the fly to their dove-cots. They are like white butterflies'. Zatlin goes on to note on p.47 that Colin McDowell, in a 2002 article titled 'Fashion Moment' in The Guardian 'Style' section, made the claim that this drawing was 'the inspiration for Schiaparelli (1930s), Balenciaga (1950s), Versace (1980s) and Viktor & Rolf (2002)'.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
C.22146:6

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Record createdAugust 18, 2015
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1319392/the-black-cape-print-beardsley-aubrey-vincent/
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