Xinghe Chen

This research explores the reception and impact of Sadler’s Wells’ Sleeping Beauty in 1946 and analyses Oliver Messel’s designs' role in it. It analyses Messel’s set and costume designs by comparing them with The Sleeping Princess, the previous production by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, designed by Léon Bakst. 

Stimulated by my interest in the role that design plays in performance and the performance itself as ‘design’, this dissertation not only discusses the stage and costume designs but also the total image of this production in the manner of Gesamtkunstwerk.

The Sleeping Princess was involved in the formation process of a collective identity about ‘Britishness’; the tensions between Russian émigrés and British modernists behind The Sleeping Princess’ production and reception laid an initial foundation for Britain to present The Sleeping Beauty in 1946, and had enabled the persistence of ‘Britishness’. As for Messel, he differentiated his designs from Bakst’s. Meanwhile, his design achieved the evocation of both the experience of The Sleeping Princess, as well as the perception of landscape in Britain and the collective memory of the Second World War; it thus contributed to the reception of The Sleeping Beauty. Messel’s designs took part in the formation process of ‘Britishness’, which helped Britain present a national art and persisted ‘Britishness’ in the post-war period. 

This research also depicts the cultural exchanges between Russia and Britain. The collective nostalgia of both Russian émigrés and British modernists functioned as a strong motivation behind the production and reception of The Sleeping Princess. Yet, the financial (massive budget with little income) and political (the establishment of the USSR and the rise of communism) context impacted its reception. The latter has even affected the trajectory of British ballet indirectly. This demonstrates how the political, cultural, social and financial context highly influences the theatrical productions and their receptions, which bring the productions into a wider discourse, that even themselves may not intend to. 

In conclusion, this dissertation discussed the design evolution of The Sleeping Beauty, which leads to the core argument that The Sleeping Princess had laid the foundation for later professionals to present The Sleeping Beauty, while the later production had inherited some of the previous elements and created something new, which eventually achieved to represent ‘British’ art in the post-war period. 

Transcultural exchanges and the circulation of objects have always fascinated me, and as a design historian, such passion not only motivates me to dive into Ballets Russes but also Chinese export ware. 

In one of my master’s research projects, I explored the circulation trajectory of a Chinese lacquer fan that once belonged to Julia Neilson, a renowned English actress in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Although made in China, this lacquer fan’s identity changed throughout different stages of its journey. Made in Guangzhou, China, during the mid-19th century for the export market, it has colourfully painted paper leaf with lacquered wooden sticks, which demonstrates the gold-paint skills of lacquer techniques and a combining style of both Chinese and western paintings. Its nature of mass production reveals the historical contexts of the Canton System and world trade. The association with the export wave of lacquerware indicates its reception in the western world with the ‘Chinoiserie’ decorative style. As for its journey in the Edwardian era, it was used in a completely different context, from connecting with middle-class womanhood to being a representation of Edwardian opulence, which bonded with the duality of nostalgia and modernism from a view of orientalism, it made its way as a prop on London stage. Finally, here at V&A, after the campaign of establishing the theatre collection, it is stored in archives, far detached from its original production centre, functions and interactions.

Since the Manchu established the Qing dynasty, their dressing habits have changed in many ways. Under the influence of Han Chinese jewellery style, Manchu women developed dian zi (钿子) from their original hairstyle - bao tou (包头) and formulated corresponding regulations. These had differentiated them from the Han Chinese while declaring their ethnic identity and power. After that, with the development of the new hairstyle, liangbatou (两把头), which was displayed as an image to revitalise the region's authority, dian zi was no longer a mainstream among Manchus women's headwear. After the failure of liangbatou in revitalising the Qing court, dian zi eventually became a theatrical prop with it in the 1920s. While today, Dian zi reentered the contemporary audience through TV series adapted from the history of the Qing dynasty.

When researching the Manchu wearing styles, scholars often focus on liangbatou or qipao; yet when they discussed the dian zi, they discussed craft or patterns mainly, while the situation of dian zi after the mid-Qing dynasty was merely mentioned. Dian zi can also be situated in a new discourse, especially be discussed in the context of the late 19th century and the early 20th century, when Manchus attempted to consolidate their precarious authority. Through the Qing government’s policies towards civilians and diplomacy, dian zi reflects the interactions between not only Manchu and Han Chinese but also China and foreign observers and offers different narratives of Manchus wearing style’s impact on Chinese material culture. In addition, the representations of Manchu material culture in the contemporary media production led the discussion to the field of performance studies, as the evolution of costume design and prop making also influenced audience perception of the Qing dynasty, the last era of Imperial China.