Plywood figure representing a Sylph in Mikhail Fokine's ballet Les Sylphides, issued by C W Beaumont, 1930s. Wood and gouache.

Plywood figure representing a Sylph in Mikhail Fokine's ballet "Les Sylphides". Full length two-dimensional cut-out female figure with painted features poised on left point, the right leg out behind, the hands crossed in front of the body at hip level, wearing a calf-length cream Romantic ballet tutu with gauzy short cape sleeves over the shoulders; the head is tilted to right and on the hair is a floral wreath. The supporting foot extends into a support to fit into a base. The figure is varnished; the painting continues around the sides and the reverse is painted. Wood and gouache.

Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest

The figure represents a dancer in Mikhail Fokine's ballet "Les Sylphides", made by the Aldon Studios for the dance historian, bookseller and publisher, Cyril Beaumont, for sale in his shop at 75, Charing Cross Road.
The figure is stylistically completely different from the other wooden figures in the Beaumont Collection and from the style of make-up, hair and dress relates more to the Ballets Russes, or even the English, productions of "Les Sylphides" in the 1930s or 1940s than the Diaghilev Ballets Russes production. Beaumont did produce occasional figures of non-Diaghilev Ballet dancers, notably for the American dancer Ruth Page showing her in various roles, but these may have been one-off figures and never produced commercially. While the Sylphides figure could be either Irina Baronova or Tatiana Riabouchinska, it is not possible to make a positive identification.
Beaumont had admired Caran d'Ache's satirical wood carvings of political personalities, and, about 1914, he conceived the idea of two-dimensional wooden figures of principal dancers of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes. The figures represented the dancers in costume in a typical pose from the chosen work; they were cut out from two-ply wood, hand painted and mounted on detachable stands. Each design was limited to fifty copies, originally hand-coloured by the artist and issued at 7s 6d. They sold steadily. Adrian Allinson designed nineteen figures in all and after the War, Beaumont turned to other artists and commissioned a separate artist to execute the colouring.
S.687-2001 is not included in The Complete Catalogue of the Publications of C. W. Beaumont, 1928, which lists 49 figures; examples of 30 of these came to the Museum as part of the Cyril Beaumont Bequest plus 10 not in the 1928 catalogue. The style indicates that the figure postdates 1928.
The 1928 catalogue included the following description of the cut-outs (p.25):
"These figures of celebrated dancers of the Diaghileff Ballet have been issued with a view to supply the demand for something between a photograph and a statuette - something that would preserve the memory of a dancer as she appeared in a particular ballet. Each figure is based on drawings made from sittings given by the dancer herself, and from sketches made during an actual performance. The designs are by the following artists: Adrian Allinson, Eileen Mayo, Vera Willoughby, also working under the name of Vera Petrovna, Randolph Schwabe and Ethelbert White. The figures, which are of wood, average 8 3/4 inches high, and are hand-coloured with special care to ensure accuracy of costume. The black stands on which the figures are mounted are easily removable to afford facility in packing. The figures are priced at 7s. 6d. net."

Historical significance: The existence of such figures are a testimony to the popularity of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in London, and a growing 'popular' audience who demanded memorabilia and souvenirs. As the only specialist bookseller and publisher in London, and with access to the dancers and company, Beaumont was quick to identify the market and he commissioned the figures, prints and illustrated books to fulfil the demand.

S.687-2001