Match Box Cover
ca. 1930 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This silver match box cover was given to the actor John Gielgud (1904-2000) by his mother Kate Terry Lewis as a present for his 27th birthday in 1931, engraved with a list of his leading roles at the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells Theatres during the 1930-1931 season - Hotspur in Henry IV, Prospero in The Tempest, Lord Trinket in The Jealous Wife, the title role in Richard II, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, Sergius Saranoff in Arms and the Man, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and the title role in King Lear. Engraved silver cases such as this were fashionable gifts in the 1930s, and the previous year his evidently proud mother gave him a silver note-pad holder similarly engraved with his roles at the Old Vic in the 1929-1930 season.
John Gielgud was passionate about the theatre from a very early age, and was related on his mother's side to the legendary acting family the Terrys. His grandmother was the actress Kate Terry; the actresses Dame Ellen Terry and Marion Terry were his great-aunts, and the actor Fred Terry was his great-uncle. His father's family had no theatrical connections. They were immigrants from Lithuania and Poland, the name Gielgud deriving from Gielgaudskis, a village in Lithuania.
John Gielgud was passionate about the theatre from a very early age, and was related on his mother's side to the legendary acting family the Terrys. His grandmother was the actress Kate Terry; the actresses Dame Ellen Terry and Marion Terry were his great-aunts, and the actor Fred Terry was his great-uncle. His father's family had no theatrical connections. They were immigrants from Lithuania and Poland, the name Gielgud deriving from Gielgaudskis, a village in Lithuania.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engraved silver |
| Brief description | Match-box cover given to John Gielgud (1904-2000) by his mother Kate Terry Lewis for his 27th birthday, engraved with his roles at The Old Vic and Sadler's Wells Theatres, 1930-1931. Silver, British. |
| Physical description | Oblong silver match-box cover with silver ball feet. The silver cover is engraved with a birthday dedication to John Gielgud from his mother commemorating his roles at the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells Theatres. Although the engraved date is 13th April, his birthday was the 14th. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Sir John Gielgud |
| Object history | The match box cover was given to John Gielgud by his mother, Kate Terry Lewis, to commemorate his leading roles at The Old Vic and Sadler's Wells Theatres, 1930-1931. The previous year she had presented him with a silver note-pad holder similarly engraved with his roles at the Old Vic Theatre 1929-1930 (S.290-2001). |
| Production | There is a hallmark on the side of this object with a distinguishable leopard's head but the date mark has been polished away. Attribution note: Although the object itself would have been mass-produced, the inscription is unique and therefore makes this a unique object. |
| Summary | This silver match box cover was given to the actor John Gielgud (1904-2000) by his mother Kate Terry Lewis as a present for his 27th birthday in 1931, engraved with a list of his leading roles at the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells Theatres during the 1930-1931 season - Hotspur in Henry IV, Prospero in The Tempest, Lord Trinket in The Jealous Wife, the title role in Richard II, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, Sergius Saranoff in Arms and the Man, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and the title role in King Lear. Engraved silver cases such as this were fashionable gifts in the 1930s, and the previous year his evidently proud mother gave him a silver note-pad holder similarly engraved with his roles at the Old Vic in the 1929-1930 season. John Gielgud was passionate about the theatre from a very early age, and was related on his mother's side to the legendary acting family the Terrys. His grandmother was the actress Kate Terry; the actresses Dame Ellen Terry and Marion Terry were his great-aunts, and the actor Fred Terry was his great-uncle. His father's family had no theatrical connections. They were immigrants from Lithuania and Poland, the name Gielgud deriving from Gielgaudskis, a village in Lithuania. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.289-2001 |
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| Record created | April 9, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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