Artwork
MISS WOOLGAR,
MISS WOOLGAR, is a print by the Romanticist artist Thomas Harrington Wilson. It dates from 1 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The print titled Miss Woolgar, / as Duke Albert in The Phantom Dancers depicts a young woman, Sarah Jane Woolgar, assuming a male role on stage. Executed as a printed image, the work reproduces Woolgar’s own signature, linking the performer directly to the visual record of the performance.
Subject & Meaning
The image captures a burlesque performance from the 1840s that parodied the tragic ballet Giselle. In the spoof, the heroine’s suicide and transformation into a vengeful spirit are treated humorously, reflecting contemporary tastes for comic reinterpretations of serious dance narratives.
Technique & Style
Created as a print, the work employs line work and shading typical of mid‑nineteenth‑century theatrical reproductions. The artist rendered the costume and posture to emphasize the gender reversal, while the inclusion of Woolgar’s facsimile signature adds a documentary quality.
Context
During the 1840s the popularity of ballerinas began to eclipse male dancers in European ballet. By the late nineteenth century, it became common in Paris and London for young women to perform male parts, echoing the tradition of the “principal boy” in pantomime.
Legacy
The print serves as a visual testimony to the gender‑bending practices of nineteenth‑century burlesque theater and illustrates the shifting dynamics of ballet performance, where female performers increasingly occupied roles originally intended for men.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Wilson wasn’t a painter, he was London’s go-to guy for cheeky prints that made fun of real people, usually in costumes.
