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LANGTRY, MRS
Neg. No: 2652B
Neg. Size: 15"X12"
Neg. Date: 01-04-1901

copyright V&A

Sitter: Lillie Langtry (stage name) Lady De Bathe, née Emilie Charlotte Le Breton (1853-1929). Lillie Langtry (stage name); Lady De Bathe, née Emilie Charlotte Le Breton (1853-1929). Biog: Actress - Manager; only daughter of Very Rev. W.C. Le Breton, Dean of Jersey; m. 1stly (1874) Edward Langtry (d. 1897), [div. 1897, Lakeport, California]; m. 2ndly (1899) Sir Hugo Gerald De Bathe, 5th Bart.

Role: Marie Antoinette.(1)

Date: 1 April 1901.

Occasion: Advance publicity photographs for A Royal Necklace, a play in four acts by Pierre and Claude Breton, produced by Lillie Langtry for the re-opening of the Imperial Theatre on 22 April 1901.

Location: The Lafayette Studio, 179 New Bond Street, London.

Descr: FL standing.

Costume: Costume "...of the richest royal blue velvet, made with the full pleats of the day below the waist at the back, and worn with a pleated silver-grey silk petticoat and a huge black picture hat, "laced" at one side with satin." [Act I, Scene 2]

Costume Designer: M.M. Bianchini (of the National Opera) or Worth, of Paris.

Costume Supplier: M.M. Bianchini (of the National Opera) or Worth, of Paris; Wigs by Clarkson.(2)

Jewellery: -

Furniture & Props: Painted backdrop.

Photographer: Lafayette Ltd., 179 New Bond Street, London.

Evidence of photographer at work: -

No of poses: 2.

Copyright: V&A

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Provenance: Pinewood Studios; acquired 1989.

References:

Biog: Burkes' Peerage; P. Hartnoll (ed.), The Oxford Companion to the Theatre, 4th ed., London 1983; Lillie Langtry (Lady De Bathe), The Days That I Knew, London, DATE; E. Dudley, The Gilded Lily, London, 1958.

Role: The Era, 27 April 1901, p 13a.

Occasion: Play programme (production file at the Theatre Museum); The Sketch, 17 April 1901, p 495 and 24 April 1901, p 24; The Era, 27 April 1901, p 13a.

Costume: The Sketch, 24 April 1901, p 24; The Era, 27 April 1901, p 12e.

Costume Designer: The Era, 27 April 1901, pp 12a & 13a; Play programme (production file at the Theatre Museum).

Costume Supplier: The Era, 27 April 1901, p 12a; Play programme (production file at the Theatre Museum).

Jewellery: -

Reproduced: Madame, 27 April 1901, front page; (versions) The Sketch, 24 April 1901, p 24; Black & White, 27 April 1901, p 558; Lillie Langtry (Lady De Bathe), The Days That I Knew, London, DATE, opp. p. 172.

Acknowledgements: -

1. Lillie Langtry also played the role of Mlle. Oliva in this production (see The Sketch, 17 April 1901, front page; The Era, 27 April 1901, pp 12e & 13a; Madame, 27 April 1901, p 183).

2. The play programme states that the other costumes for this production were designed and executed by Messrs. L. & H. Nathan.