RICHARD BERKELEY SUTCLIFFE (1918 – 2007): An original vintage costume design for Swan Lake from the Hermione Gingold revue “Sweetest and Lowest”, circa 1946
RICHARD BERKELEY SUTCLIFFE (1918 – 2007): An original vintage costume design for Swan Lake from the Hermione Gingold revue “Sweetest and Lowest”, circa 1946
Richard Berkeley Sutcliffe (1918 – 2007): An original vintage costume design for Swan Lake from the Hermione Gingold revue “Sweetest and Lowest”, circa 1946. Titled “Sweetest and Lowest – Swan Lake – The Swan”.
The design for “the Swan” ballerina in full costume is in watercolour, gouache, pencil and ink. Signed to bottom right in pencil “Berkeley Sutcliffe”. The drawing includes detailed pencil inscription relating to the fabric and construction.
Dimensions 38cm x 28cm
Richard Berkeley Sutcliffe (1918 – 1979) was a leading British mid 20thcentury costume and stage designer, in particular for theatrical productions.
Alongside his work for stage and screen, Berkeley Sutcliffe was the Head Designer at Fortnum & Mason. His most famous design whilst working at Fortnum’s was that of the clock, which sits above the Piccadilly shop entrance. The clock, which is now a London landmark, was designed in 1961. The design depicts Messer’s William Fortnum and Hugh Mason appearing from pavilions to inspect their building.
Berkeley Sutcliffe’s work can be found in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
For a costume design from a similar period in Berkeley Sutcliffe’s career see https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107744/costume-design-sutcliffe-berkeley/
Sweetest and Lowest was a revue starring Hermione Gingold, which opened in 1946 and ran until 1948. The revue was part of the Sweet series, which began in 1943 as Sweet and Low, then renamed to Sweeter and Lower and finally Sweetest and Lowest . The three revues ran almost continuously between 1943 – 1948, Gingold appearing in over 1,600 appearances to an audience of more than 800,000 theatre goers. Berkeley Sutcliffe was the costume designer for the series.
Hermione Gingold (1897 – 1987) was an English actress and writer. Celebrated for her unconventional persona, she worked in predominantly in theatre both in Britain and America. Gingold also worked in Hollywood film, one of her most recognisable roles in a movie being the character Madame Alverez in Gigi(1958).
To read more about the career of Hermione Gingold see https://gingoldgroup.org/about-us/hermione-gingold/
Our store contains further Berkeley Sutcliffe ‘Sweetest and Lowest’ designs. See RICHARD BERKELEY SUTCLIFFE (1918 – 2007): An original vintage costume design for Swan Lake from the Hermione Gingold revue “Sweetest and Lowest”, circa 1946
Dimensions: 38 x 28cm
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