{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O102815"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O102815/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AE5469/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AE5469/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AE5469","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O102815/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O102815","accessionNumber":"E.4947-1968","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"Le Maistre a Dancer","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"In the 18th century, dancing was a necessary social accomplishment and dancing masters could be found in the major towns throughout Europe.  He holds a miniature violin, known as a ‘kit’ or pocket violin, as it was small enough to fit into the pocket.  Today classes are often accompanied by a piano or recordings, but in the 18th and early 19th century dance teachers used the ‘kit’ to provide melody and rhythm for their pupils as it allowed them to play and demonstrate at the same time.  Older ballet masters accompanying class on the violin can be seen in Degas’s paintings of the Paris Opera ballet in the 1870s and 1880s, although the instruments are now full-size.","physicalDescription":"Male figure in 18th century stage costume holding a violin in his left hand and bow in his right.  Surrounded by a frame beneath which is engraved: Le Maistre a Dancer. A bon droit ce Maistre de Dance / Veut que de luy l'on fasse cas; / Puisque des gens de consequence / Font gloire de suivre ses pas (\"Rightly this dancing master wants people to consider him well / Because important people are proud to follow his steps\".)","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Bonnart, Nicolas","id":"A13395"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Bonnart","id":"A13395"},"association":{"text":"engraver","id":"AAT25165"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Printing ink","id":"AAT187371"},{"text":"Paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Engraving (printing process)","id":"AAT53225"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Engraving","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2006AE5469"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"009","id":"THES356645"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"prints","id":"AAT41273"}],[{"text":"engravings","id":"AAT41340"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1st half 18th century","earliest":"1700-01-01","latest":"1750-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Dame Marie Rambert","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"283","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"right hand side","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"225","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Height irregular","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The print is part of the collection of dance prints amassed by Marie Rambert and her husband, Ashley Dukes in the first half of the 20th century.  Eventually numbering 145 items, some of which had belonged to the ballerina Anna Pavlova, it was one of the first and most important specialist collections in private hands.  \r\nRambert bought the first print as a wedding present but could not bear to give it away.  As the collection grew, it was displayed in the bar of the Mercury Theatre, the headquarters of Ballet Rambert, but in 1968, Rambert gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum; seven duplicates were returned to Rambert, but these are catalogued in Ivor Guest's A Gallery of Romantic Ballet, which was published before the collection came to the V&A.  Although often referred to as a collection of Romantic Ballet prints, there are also important engravings of 17th and 18th century performers, as well as lithographs from the later 19th century, by which time the great days of the ballet in London and Paris were over.","historicalContext":"The dancing master holds a miniature violin, known as a ‘kit’ or pocket violin, as it was small enough to fit into the pocket.  In the 18th and 19th centuries, before the piano became the usual instrument to accompany dance classes and rehearsals, dance teachers learned to play the ‘kit’ and provided their own accompaniment for classes, as it allowed them to play and demonstrate at the same time.  Older ballet masters accompanying class on the violin can be seen in Degas’s paintings of the Paris Opera ballet in the 1870s and 1880s, although the instruments are now full-size.","briefDescription":"The Dancing Master.  Drawn and engraved by Bonnart, first half 18th century.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.4947-1968"],"accessionNumberNum":"4947","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1968,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-27","recordCreationDate":"2004-08-26","availableToBook":true}}