{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1156138"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1156138/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014GW5250/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014GW5250/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014GW5250","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1156138/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1156138","accessionNumber":"S.1497-1984","objectType":"Tinsel print","titles":[{"title":"Madame Vestris as Oberon in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>. Framed tinsel print","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Madame Vestris played Oberon, the King of the Fairies in Shakespeare's <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> at Covent Garden Theatre which she leased with her husband Charles Mathews from 1839 until 1842. The production was innovatory for being the first in two hundred years to attempt to restore Shakespeare's text to the play, and Madame Vestris was widely praised for its splendid scenes and music. She was the first in London to use Mendelssohn's full score, along with some Beethoven for Oberon's incantation, and portions of Weber's <i>Precosia</i> for a ballet at Titania and Bottom's exit.\n\nVestris is shown in this print with the spear she carried in the role, wearing a crown and a knee-length gathered tunic that showed her shapely legs for which she was renowned.\n\nTinsel prints were created from etched portraits of theatrical stars in popular roles they played on the London stage. They were hand-painted in watercolour and decorated with scraps of material and tinsel additions. They were popular during the first half of the 19th century and were considered an adult, rather than a child's hobby. By the 1830s it was possible to buy the tinsel, leather and feather ornaments to go with each image.","physicalDescription":"This tinsel print shows Vestris as Oberon dressed in a white silk tunic striped with green, which ends just above her knees. This tunic is decorated with stripes of gold foil and tiny green foil circles at the hem and sleeve ends. She carries a long staff in her right hand, whilst her left is upraised, gesturing into the distance. She is wearing a gold crown and a sash of leaves stretches from her right shoulder to her left hip. A small horn is suspended from the belt at her waist. She is standing on a grassy area with fairies on the shore behind her and another in the sea driving a shell boat pulled by a swan","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Park, Archibald Alexander","id":"AUTH316060"},"association":{"text":"printer","id":"x30811"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"foil","id":"AAT160106"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Shakespeare","id":"THES253244"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2014GW5250"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES356700"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"tinsel print","id":"x33804"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1840","earliest":"1840-01-01","latest":"1840-12-31"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"AAT53319"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"S.2034-1986","id":"O1156130"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"S.589-1997","id":"O1139062"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Given anonymously in memory of Terence Rattigan","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"18.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"15.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measurements given are for the wooden frame in which the image is mounted.","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":" ","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Framed tinsel print of Madame Vestris as Oberon in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> by William Shakespeare, Covent Garden Theatre, 16 November 1840","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.1497-1984"],"accessionNumberNum":"1497","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1984,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-11","recordCreationDate":"2010-03-12","availableToBook":true}}