Edel, An extensive collection of costume watercolours, Paris, 1895-1907

EDEL, ALFREDO

An extensive collection of costume watercolours in 41 volumes. [Paris, 1895-1907]

1,714 pencil and watercolour illustrations on card, some enhanced with glitter, signed and dated by Edel in the lower right-hand corner, various sizes, but most c. 440 x 225mm., bound into 41 volumes, twentieth-century red cloth, gilt lettering on spines, many images cropped, often affecting captions and sometimes affecting image, soiling and spotting to some paintings, some spines cracking, some plates removed from volumes

An extensive archive of costume designs by one of the greatest stage designers of his age.

Alfredo Edel (1856-1912) was an Italian-born painter and costume designer who attained international renown for the work he undertook for La Scala, where he created the costume and prop designs for, amongst many other operas, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlos and Otello. He moved to Paris in 1890 and it is from this period in his career that the present collection comes.

The majority of the matter relates to Edel's designs for the extraordinary extravaganzas mounted by the Folies Bergère, Moulin Rouge and the Théâtre du Châtelet. The designs are extravagant and often intricately detailed. The majority represent female figures in various national dresses as well as more esoteric costumes representing birds, fruits, playing cards and beverages. Specific productions are also represented: such as dresses for a revival of Offenbach's La Belle Hélène and the original run of Claude Terrasse's Le sire de Vergy.

The set was owned by Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946), the influential Parisian fashion designer, who probably had the watercolours bound in themed volumes with such titles as "Comiques et excentriques" and "Anglaises boys et girls"