Lot 88: Charles Ricketts RA (1866-1931) COSTUME DESIGN,

Charles Ricketts RA (1866-1931) COSTUME DESIGN, FRANCISCAN MONK, FOR FERDINAND BUCHNER'S ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND, 1931 variously inscribed with wardrobe instructions watercolour and pencil on paper (unframed) 36 by 25cm., 14 by 10in> Charles Ricketts was a prominent member of the Irish Theatre scene in Dublin and one of the many influential figures involved in the establishment of the city's Abbey Theatre. A friend of the Yeats' Ricketts attended the many performances of William Butler Yeats,' including the debut of Where There is Nothing, in London 1904, as noted in lot 81. The design for this costume recalls the character of Paul Ruttledge in Yeats' Where There is Nothing. The protagonist, Ruttledge, is a landlord who joins a band of tinkers until illness forces him to enter a Franciscan monastery, where he disturbs the community with his high spirits and his apparitions. It is possible that costumes for this earlier play proved inspiring to the designer for this adaptation of Elizabeth's England. Although from the same owner, this lot was not part of Lady Gregory's collection>