{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1296586"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1296586/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HF3261/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HF3261/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HF3261","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1296586","accessionNumber":"S.1409-2014","objectType":"Costume design","titles":[{"title":"The Queen of Spades","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Costume design by Leslie Hurry for an attendant on the Countess in Tchaikovsky's opera <i>The Queen of Spades</i>, Sadler's Wells Theatre, 1966.\n\nThis production of the three-act opera, <i>The Queen of Spades </i>by Peter Tchaikovsky, with its libretto based on Alexander Pushkin’s story by Modest Tchaikovsky, was performed in an English translation by Rosa Newmarch. The first production of this opera at Sadler’s Wells Theatre opened on 14 September 1966. The production was directed by Anthony Besch with choreography by Harry Haythorne and Leslie Hurry’s designs were lit by Charles Bristow. \n\nLeslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet</i>.  The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation.  He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably <i>Swan Lake</i> for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; <i>Venice Preserv'd</i> for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and <i>Troilus and Cressida</i> at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.\r\n\r\nLeslie Hurry’s designs for <i>The Queen of Spades </i>were criticised for their lack of colour, and for failing to convey the lavish dress and wealth of aristocratic society in 18th-century St Petersburg. <i>The Sunday Times</i>, however, considered the sets ‘harmoniously coloured’ and ‘suitably uncluttered and oppressive’ and a reviewer writing for <i>The Times</i> found the costumes of Russian officers in the gambling scene particularly 'appealing'.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Costume design by Leslie Hurry for an attendant on the Countess in the 1966 production of <i>The Queen of Spades</i> at Sadler's Wells Theatre.\r\n\nThe design shows two female figures in deep purple dresses with green and white accessories. The larger figure, left, is shown in profile. She wears a late 18th-century style dress with a slightly raised waistline. A white fichu, outlined in green, is worn at the neckline of the dress and is crossed over her bodice to fasten at the waist and extend into two hanging lengths at the rear. She also wears a fabric cap, with a pleated band at the front, and decorated with a bow at the crown. The second figure, also shown in profile, wears a dress with a full upper skirt, which curves over a straighter, narrower, underskirt. She has a narrow fichu fastened around the neckline of her dress and wears a cap of a different style: it has a lower crown and no bow, but has a pleated band at the brim.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Hurry, Leslie","id":"A9404"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25681"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Sadler's Wells","id":"AUTH323842"},"association":{"text":"producer","id":"AAT197742"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"graphite","id":"AAT11098"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"},{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Ink, watercolour and pencil ","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Opera","id":"THES263971"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2014HF3261"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"009","id":"THES356600"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"design","id":"AAT54190"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1966","earliest":"1966-01-01","latest":"1966-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"38.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"18","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Queen of Spades'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Handwritten annotation in ink, at centre top"},{"content":"'Attendant on Countess/ 6 [illegible]/6 Silk'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Handwritten annotation in pen at the base of the sketch"},{"content":"'SHANKS'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Handwritten annotation in red biro, bottom left hand corner"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume design by Leslie Hurry for an attendant on the Countess in Tchaikovsky's opera <i>The Queen of Spades</i>, Sadler's Wells Theatre, 1966","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Queen of Spades"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.1409-2014"],"accessionNumberNum":"1409","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2014,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2014-07-17","availableToBook":true}}