Fashion — 1850-1919
Theatrical jewellery, cap
Skull cap of woven imitation pearls. Adelina Patti wore it when performing in opera at Covent Garden. It is associated with A23255/33a, which Adelina Patti wore in Act III of ‘Aida’, when she first performed it at Covent Garden in June 1876.
There are two other headpieces made of pearls in this collection, A23255/53 and A23255/67.
Adelina Patti (1843-1919) was a soprano born into a musical Italian family. She grew up in the Bronx in New York City. In 1861, aged 18, Patti performed to great acclaim at Covent Garden in ‘La sonnambula’ and appeared there in every season until 1884. She also sang worldwide, especially in Europe. The highest earning singer of her era, Patti married three times. One of the characters in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ refers to ‘Patti singing divinely’, and Patti’s portrait was painted by Winterhalter, among others.
- Category:
- Fashion
- Object ID:
- A23255/33d
- Object name:
- theatrical jewellery, cap
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- —
- Related people:
- Related events:
- —
- Related places:
- —
- Production date:
- 1850-1919
- Material:
- plastic, textile
- Measurements/duration:
- W 285 mm (forehead to back)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Credit:
- —
- Copyright holder:
- digital image © London Museum
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.