{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1278387"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1278387/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1278387","accessionNumber":"S.145-2013","objectType":"Film property","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Hand-painted wooden cup and ball, used by the Fool in Peter Brook's 1971 film of Shakespeare's <i>King Lear</i>. The film starred Paul Scofield as Lear.\n\nIn 2004 a poll of 200 members of the Royal Shakespeare Company voted Paul Scofield’s King Lear as the greatest performance in a play by Shakespeare. Scofield played Lear for the RSC in 1962, directed by Peter Brook.  ‘This production brings me closer to Lear than I have ever been; from now on, I not only know him but can place him in his harsh and unforgiving world’, wrote Kenneth Tynan (<i>Observer</i>, 11 November 1962). Scofield’s towering performance was re-created for the screen when Brook directed a film of the play, released in 1971. This was not intended as a film of the stage version, though it used several of the RSC production’s leading players. It was shot on location in the snow-covered landscapes of North Jutland, Denmark, during the winter of 1968-1969. Filmed in black and white, play and setting matched each other in bleakness. ","physicalDescription":"Hand-painted wooden cup and ball. The ball is attached to the handle of the wooden cup with a woven cord which is knotted at both ends. Both the ball and the exterior of the cup are handpainted in tones of black, blue and white, the ball with a stylised curvilinear pattern, the cup in motifs which resemble gothic windows. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Wood","id":"AAT11914"},{"text":"Paint","id":"AAT15029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"},{"text":"carving","id":"x34992"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Wood, paint, cord","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Film and Cinema","id":"THES264410"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES344396"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"theatre costume","id":"x47007"}],[{"text":"property","id":"x38736"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1968","earliest":"1968-01-01","latest":"1968-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Martin Scofield","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"41.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"base to top of cup","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"6.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"approximate","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Widest point"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Hand-painted wooden cup and ball, used by the Fool in Peter Brook's 1971 film of <i>King Lear</i> by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Paul Scofield","id":"N3208"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["King Lear"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.145-2013"],"accessionNumberNum":"145","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2013,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Archive number","id":"THES54576"},"number":"THM/397/7/2/2/2 "}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2014-01-23","availableToBook":true}}