costume design
Costume Design
1860 (designed)
1860 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of a set of seven designs by Richard Wynn Keene or Dykwynkyn (1809-1887), for an assortment of comic Knights in the first Christmas pantomime ever staged at Her Majesty's Theatre. Harlequin and Tom Thumb!, or, Merlin The Magician and the Good Fairies of the Court of King Arthur, which opened on Christmas Eve 1860, was by all accounts a splendid pantomime, with brilliant set designs supervised by the well-known scene designer William Beverley, and remarkable costumes and the pantomime 'big heads' designed by the artist, sculptor, mask and property maker and costume designer known as Dykwynkyn. The heads traditionally featured in the opening of pantomimes at this date, and their design was a speciality of Dykwynkyn's.
The Knights in Tom Thumb appeared in 'The Banqueting Hall in the Palace of King Arthur', the scene in the Harlequinade part of the pantomime in which Tom Thumb lived in King Arthur's Court. 'A Green Knight' is noted on the playbill, and from the design we can see that this was also an Irish Knight.
The Knights in Tom Thumb appeared in 'The Banqueting Hall in the Palace of King Arthur', the scene in the Harlequinade part of the pantomime in which Tom Thumb lived in King Arthur's Court. 'A Green Knight' is noted on the playbill, and from the design we can see that this was also an Irish Knight.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | costume design (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil and watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Costume design for A Green Knight, one of several Knight designs for the pantomime Harlequin and Tom Thumb! or, Merlin The Magician, & the Good Fairies of the Court of King Arthur, Her Majesty's Theatre, 24 December 1860. Pencil and watercolour by 'Dykwynkyn' - Richard Wynn Keene (1809-1887) |
| Physical description | Pencil and watercolour costume design on a sheet of cream paper for A Green Knight, depicting a standing helmeted Knight wearing a belted green tabard, the front of which bears the pattern of a gold Celtic harp. He is looking upwards towards a decanter which he holds aloft in his left hand, while his right hand grasps a cudgel inscribed in pencil 'PALE BOG OAK'. A sword hangs from his left side, and his helmet bears a bottle and glass, some shamrock and a plume. There is a slight pencil sketch for a standing man verso. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given by Mrs. W.W. Smith |
| Object history | Given to the donor in the 1920s by her husband's aunt, a friend of Florence Glossop Harris, daughter of Sir Augustus Harrris and wife of Frank Cellier. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This is one of a set of seven designs by Richard Wynn Keene or Dykwynkyn (1809-1887), for an assortment of comic Knights in the first Christmas pantomime ever staged at Her Majesty's Theatre. Harlequin and Tom Thumb!, or, Merlin The Magician and the Good Fairies of the Court of King Arthur, which opened on Christmas Eve 1860, was by all accounts a splendid pantomime, with brilliant set designs supervised by the well-known scene designer William Beverley, and remarkable costumes and the pantomime 'big heads' designed by the artist, sculptor, mask and property maker and costume designer known as Dykwynkyn. The heads traditionally featured in the opening of pantomimes at this date, and their design was a speciality of Dykwynkyn's. The Knights in Tom Thumb appeared in 'The Banqueting Hall in the Palace of King Arthur', the scene in the Harlequinade part of the pantomime in which Tom Thumb lived in King Arthur's Court. 'A Green Knight' is noted on the playbill, and from the design we can see that this was also an Irish Knight. |
| Associated objects |
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| Other number | S.11-2008 - Cancelled number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.735-1987 |
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| Record created | February 12, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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