{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1222797"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1222797/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010EB8246/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010EB8246/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2010EB8246","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1222797","accessionNumber":"S.1136-1982","objectType":"Drawing","titles":[{"title":"Firebird","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This drawing by Ethelbert White is the design for one of the plywood souvenirs of the Ballets Russes which Cyril Beaumont commissioned and sold in the 1910s and 1920s. It shows the ballerina Lydia Lopokova in the costume designed by Léon Bakst ca.1915 for <i>The Firebird</i> which she wore on the tour by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes of the USA and when the company returned to London. Cyril Beaumont complained that this costume ‘possesses little of the charm and fantasy of the older model and, secondly, the hat is unpractical. Its height renders it difficult to keep on, and it is a constant discomfort to the dancer’s partner.’ Photographs of Lopokova show that the headdress has been modified and reduced in height in White’s design.\r\nBeaumont liked Lopokova’s interpretation of the Firebird elsewhere described as being like a hummingbird rather than a bird of prey. ‘Can you forget the dainty steps sur les pointes with which she approaches the tree, the moment of terror when she is caught in the embrace of the prince- those pleading eyes half-filled with tears, the quivering of her breast, the pitiful fluttering of her arms.’\r\n","physicalDescription":"Drawing of Lydia Lopokova in Bakst's revised costume for the title role of <i>The Firebird</i>. This is the flame-coloured version of the costume with high, plumed headdress first worn for performances during the USA tours. Lopokova can be seen in this costume in photographs by Hoppe. The image shows a ballerina in point shoes, her left foot on the ground, the right behind, designed so that the feet of the plywood figure could slot into the stand. She wears a yellow dress with a floral motif and over this is an orange apron decorated with white birds. The sides of the costume suggest flames. She has a headdress topped with orange ostrich feathers. Additional details are added in pencil around the edge.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"White, Ethelbert","id":"A5489"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"pencil","id":"THES398741"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"paper (fiber product)","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pencil and paint on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Drawings","id":"THES48966"},{"text":"Dance","id":"THES252984"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2010EB8246"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES343703"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"drawings","id":"AAT33973"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1919","earliest":"1914-01-01","latest":"1923-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased from the Fine Art Society exhibition \"Bank Holiday\" May-June 1982 with a provenance of coming from the artist's estate 28 June 1982","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Design by Ethelbert White for a souvenir plywood figure of Lydia Lopokova in the title role in<i> L'Oiseau de Feu</i> (<i>The Firebird)</i>, ca. 1919.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Lydia Lopokova","id":"N1231"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.1136-1982"],"accessionNumberNum":"1136","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1982,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-15","recordCreationDate":"2011-05-12","availableToBook":false}}