Costumes for the Mikado

The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, opened in 1885 at the Savoy Theatre, London. The fictional story set in Japan’s imperial court proved to be one of their most successful collaborations. This work is from a group of designs produced by Charles Ricketts for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company’s 1926 version of The Mikado.

Ricketts was born in Geneva and brought up in France before moving to London to study wood-engraving. He went on to become a celebrated designer for the stage, working on many well-known plays. For The Mikado the characters were ‘re-dressed in 1720s period design’. After Rickett’s death the National Art Collections Fund purchased his designs for redistribution to galleries around Britain.

Purchased with assistance from the Art Fund as National Art Collections Fund, 1933