{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1221281"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1221281/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1221281","accessionNumber":"S.578-1987","objectType":"Costume design","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Costume design by Natalia Goncharova for a silver-scaled fish, one of the sea creatures in the ballet <i>Sadko</i> created for Serge Diaghilev Ballets Russes at the Eugenia-Victoria Theatre, San Sebastian, Spain, 19 August 1916.  Signed lower right-hand side.\r\nIn the ballet <i>Sadko</i> the Sea Princess is so enamoured of the music played by the merchant-musician Sadko that she lures him to the sea-bed and then returns to the surface with him.\r\n<i>Sadko</i> was choreographed by Adolph Bolm for the second Ballets Russes tour to the USA and performed to music for the ballet sequence from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera seems to have been much enjoyed by audiences although it was short-lived.  The critic of <i>The Times</i> 4 November 1918 loved this underwater Orpheus and described the ballet: ‘Sadko, the minstrel, woke a passion in the Sea-King’s daughter. To win him, she drowned him; and when he came below he set all the sea-folk madly dancing in their green depths, with the pulse of his music countering violently their waving finny stillness. The Sea-King himself, for all his splendid sheeny robe, had to dance and twirl like any little lobster or mermaid of them all. And Sadko, seeing what harm he was like to do, broke the strings of his maddening gusli [harp-like instrument] and went up again to the ordinary daylight worlds.'\r\n","physicalDescription":"Full-lngth image of a dancer facing the front with a silver fish-head with eyes on the head. The dancer wears a tabbard of appliqued silver foil and blue painted scales over green and white layered trousers and green-blue fins attatched to the arms. signed by the artist in the lower right corner.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Natalia Goncharova","id":"A6456"},"association":{"text":"costume designers","id":"AAT163428"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"pencil (marking material)","id":"THES398741"},{"text":"watercolour (paint)","id":"AAT15045"},{"text":"foil","id":"AAT160106"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing","id":"AAT54196"},{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"pencil, watercolour and silver foil","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Dance","id":"THES252984"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"none","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES356656"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"costume design","id":"AAT163423"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1916","earliest":"1911-01-01","latest":"1920-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the British Theatre Museum Association ","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"23.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"16","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Acquired by the British Theatre Museum Association at the Sotheby's Sale, 15 December 1969 (Lot no.102).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume design for a Fish by Natalia Goncharova, Sadko, Eugenia-Victoria Theatre, San Sebastian, Spain, August 19th 1916","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"COSTUME DESIGN FOR A FISH IN SADKO\r\n1916\n\r\nAdolph Bolm choreographed the underwater opera-ballet Sadko for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Goncharova’s design transformed human bodies into sea creatures so the arms of the dancers became fish fins. She appliquéd foil to this design to indicate the silver lamé to be used for the fish scales and head.\n\r\nBallet choreographed by Adolph Bolm\r\nto music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 1916\r\nEugenia-Victoria Theatre, San Sebastian, Spain, and touring\n\r\nPaper, watercolour, pencil and silver foil\r\nDesigned by Natalia Goncharova (1881–1962)\r\nGiven by the British Theatre Museum Association\r\nMuseum no. S.578-1987","date":{"text":"October 2013","earliest":"2013-10-01","latest":"2013-10-31"}}],"partNumbers":["S.578-1987"],"accessionNumberNum":"578","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1987,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"BTMA accession number","id":"THES51752"},"number":"1969/A/122"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-22","recordCreationDate":"2011-05-12","availableToBook":true}}