Gladys Calthrop Design Collection

Scope and Content

Contains material relating to theatre productions Gladys Calthrop designed for, in the form of correspondence, sketchbooks, prints, illustrations, photographs and costume makers lists.

Administrative / Biographical History

Gladys Calthrop (1894-1980) was an English set and costume designer. Born Gladys Treeby in Devon, Calthrop married, and later separated from, Everard E. Calthrop. She met Noel Coward in Italy during 1921, they subsequently became friends and worked together on many plays. Their first collaboration was on The Vortex in 1924 for which Calthrop designed both sets and costumes. She worked in both London and New York.

Gladys Calthrop designed costumes, set and props for Alice in Wonderland first produced at Scala Theatre, premiered on 24 December 1943 and revived at the Palace Theatre in 1944. She designed costumes for Twelfth Night produced at Civic Theater, New York in 1926.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is available for consultation in the V&A Department of Theatre and Performance's Reading Room, which is located at Blythe House, 23 Blythe Rd, Olympia, London, W14 0QX. The Reading Room is open Tuesday to Friday between 10.15 am and 4.30 pm. Access to it is by appointment only. To request an appointment please email tmenquiries@vam.ac.uk or telephone 020 7942 2698.

Access to some of these files may be restricted. These are identified at file level.

Conditions Governing Use

Archival material may not be photocopied. Arrangements can be made to photograph material in the reading room using non-flash photography.

Appraisal Information

This collection was appraised in line with the collection management policy.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Related Material

Objects from the Gladys Calthrope Design Collection were catalogued as museum objects and can be found on search the collections via the V&A website http://www.vam.ac.uk/.

See also the core collections of the V&A Department of Theatre and Performance. Material relating to the featuring productions performed in London, in general may be found in several collections, including the biographical, productions, company and photographs files.

Please ask for details.

Subjects
Performing arts
Costume design
Set designers
Personal Names
Calthrop Miss Gladys