[Edmund Dulac] | Costume designs, c.1911-1930

[Edmund Dulac]

A collection of 33 illustrations, c.1911-1935, various sizes (between 274 x 222 mm. and 269 x 379 mm. each), comprising:

i. 11 costume designs, pencil, watercolour, some heightened in gold and silver

ii. 19 costume designs, pencil, watercolour, some heightened in gold and silver, mounted (approx. 457 x 558mm.)

iii. one folding set design on blue paper

iv. one illustration for stationary, c.1935

Edmund Dulac produced costume designs for a range of theatrical productions. In early 1922 C. B. Cochran asked Dulac to design the sets and costumes for the operetta Phi-Phi, with music by Henri Christine. After initially opening in Paris, the English production was staged at the London Pavilion in 1922, starring Stanley Lupino. The setting of this operetta is Ancient Greece, and Dulac's bright costumes combine the spirit of Greek fashion with his own decorative style and 1920's influences. Included here are designs for Phi-Phi, Mrs Freeman, Alice O'Day as Mrs Meander, and Stanley Lupino as Mercury.

Several of the designs in this collection have been labelled by a later hand as 'The Shadow of the East', a play produced in the late 1920's, starring Franklyn Dyall. However, many have been labelled by Dulac with names including 'Nacer', 'Si Gidali' and 'Prince Abdul', characters from the play The Shadow of the Harem. As with those for Phi-Phi, these designs range from fully completed watercolours, to small sketches highlighting details, the cut of clothing, or hairstyles. Also included here are two costume designs for The Sleeping Princess, one male, one female.

PROVENANCE:

From the collection of the late Colin White

EXHIBITION:

Sheffield City Art Galleries, November 1982-May 1983, item no's 56-62

LITERATURE:

Colin White, Edmund Dulac, 1976, p.99, 112, 53, 86, 139; Edmund Dulac: illustrator and designer, 1882-1953: a centenary exhibition, Sheffield: Sheffield City Art Galleries, 1982