Belt for the ‘Beetle Wing Dress’ for Lady Macbeth
Alice Laura Vansittart Comyns Carr (1850 - 1927)
Category
Costume
Date
1888
Materials
wicker, metal, copper, thread
Measurements
400 mm (Width); 1020 mm (Length)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Smallhythe Place, Kent
NT 1118839.3
Summary
Part of costume (belt) for the ‘Beetle Wing Dress’ for Lady Macbeth, designed by Alice Laura Comyns-Carr and made by Adaline Cort Nettleship, 1888. The belt is made of a gold-coloured wicker band and is decorated with two different sorts of metal plates (alternately three oval shaped plates with a left turned bird head and a rectangular shaped plate with a snake). The dress is embroidered with iridescent beetle-wing cases and was worn by Ellen Terry (1847–1928) at the opening of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' at the Lyceum Theatre in London in December 1888. Terry’s performance and its powerful visual impact were captured in 1889 in a painting by the artist John Singer Sargent (Tate).
Provenance
By descent to Edith Craig in 1928; the house and collections were given to the National Trust in 1939.
Makers and roles
Alice Laura Vansittart Comyns Carr (1850 - 1927), designer Adaline Cort Nettleship (1856-1932), dressmaker