{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1482767"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1482767/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1482767","accessionNumber":"S.434-2018","objectType":"Costume design","titles":[{"title":"La Fille mal gardee","type":"generic title"},{"title":"The Wayward Daughter","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Costume designs by Osbert Lancaster for <i>La Fille mal gardée</i> by Frederick Ashton created for The Royal Ballet and first performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden on 28 January 1960. Lancaster designed the sets, front cloth and costumes.  This design is for Widow Simone's second costume worn when she changes to look smart for Thomas, from mid scene 1 to the end of the ballet.  The role was created in London by Stanley Holden. \r\n\nAshton was inspired to create the ballet as a result of his passion for the Suffolk countryside and he was encouragement to create his new version by former ballerina, Tamara Karsavina, who had danced the role of Lise with the Imperial Russian Ballet. Karsavina taught Ashton some of the mime she had performed. Ashton worked closely with scholar Ivor Guest who unearthed various version of the score and identified the original engraving by Choffart from P.A. Baudouin’s Une Jeune fille querellée par sa mère (1764) which inspire the original version of the ballet by Jean Dauberval in 1989. John Lanchbery freely adapted the score by Ferdinand Hérold from 1828 incorporating a range of other material that had found its way into the ballet during the nineteenth century. Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée has become one of the most popular ballets of the twentieth century and continues to be danced throughout the world.\r\n\nAt the age of 11 Osbert Lancaster was taken by his mother to see <i>The Sleeping Princess</i> and its impact made him want to design for the stage. While at Oxford he performed with OUDS and provided caricatures of other performers for Isis. At the Slade School of Art he attended Vladimir Polunin’s course on stage design but it was not until 1951 he had his first opportunity to design for theatre when John Cranko invited him to design his Festival of Britain ballet <i>Pineapple Poll</i>.  Thereafter he designed for Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, the Old Vic and London Festival Ballet. As a designer his cartoonist’s ability slightly exaggerate detail while revealing an understanding of period brought him success. \r\n\r\nDiscussing his designs Lancaster noted that ‘the first question to be settled was that of period’ and he and Ashton agreed that the traditions of the ballet led it to be ‘far closer in spirit to the sentimental Biedermeyer romanticism of the [French] Restoration period, than to the aristocratic dairymaid tradition of le petit Trianon’. He aimed to present ‘the freshness and naïveté of Images d’Epinal, while at the same time drawing inspiration from the best of the French children’s-book illustrators flourishing at the turn of the century, notably than now-neglected artist, Boutet de Monvel.’ (Lancaster in Ivor Guest La Fille mal gardée  London 1960 pp.23-24).\r\n\r\nThe original costumes were made by the Production Wardrobe at the Royal Opera House with the costumes for the Cockerel and hens being made by Alick Shanks.\r\n\r\nThese designs appear also to have been used for staging by the Royal Danish Ballet under the title Den Slet Bevogdtede Datter in Copenhagen.\r\n\r\nThe V&A Theatre and Performance department hold further material on <i>La Fille mal gardée</i> in Ivor Guest’s Research Papers, the core collection and Nadia Nerina’s archive.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Costume design by Osbert Lancaster (1908-1986) for Widow Simone's second costume in Frederick Ashton's ballet <i>La fille mal gardée</i>.  Brown and green check dress with a large frill collar and frill cuffs, large white frilled bonnet tied with a green bow, black apron, tights and shoes.  Two fabric swatches are attached in green and black.  Two additional sketches in black ink and pencil showing the back of the bonnet are included, the one in pencil has been crossed out in black ink.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Lancaster, Osbert (Sir)","id":"A13684"},"association":{"text":"designers","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"designing","id":"THES268626"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour, pencil and ink on paper.","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"none","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES356599"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"costume design","id":"AAT163423"}],[{"text":"drawings","id":"AAT33973"}],[{"text":"paintings","id":"AAT33618"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1960","earliest":"1960-01-01","latest":"1960-12-31"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":"probably"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the estate of David Dean","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"01/10/2018","earliest":"2018-10-01","latest":"2018-10-01"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"01/10/2018","earliest":"2018-10-01","latest":"2018-10-01"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Mother [<strike>2nd 3B</strike>] 4b 2[Act]'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed in ink and pencil across the upper edge of the paper. Some words written unclearly.  '3b' has been written on top '2nd' and both have been thoroughly crossed out."},{"content":"'Niels Bjørn Larsen / Svend Erik Jensen'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed in pencil, lower right corner.  Danish dancers."}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume design by Osbert Lancaster for Widow Simone labelled no. 4b for <i>La Fille mal gardée</i> at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1960","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.434-2018"],"accessionNumberNum":"434","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2018,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-09","recordCreationDate":"2019-03-08","availableToBook":true}}