”I know something of a woman in a man’s profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that.”
A collection of original pencil drawings of sets designed for the production of John Madden’s 1998 historical romance Shakespeare in Love.
The young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is struggling for ideas and money, but meets Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), the daughter of a wealthy merchant who disguises herself as a man to audition for one of his plays. Their relationship inspires William to write Romeo and Juliet, and cast Viola.
These seventeen original pencil drawings were produced for the production and show a variety of set, several of which did not make it into the final cut of the film, including a ship and a palace. The collection does feature the designs for Queen Elizabeth I’s (Judi Dench) throne upon which she sits when watching the plays at her palace.
The designs are drawn onto large tracing paper and feature dimensions for each set in feet and inches. A small box in the right hand corner of each paper features production information, including the artist for each piece and what the set is. The sheets have a hole punched piece of card at one end where they have previously been held together in a production binder.
The collection has some wear from production use and storage. The sheets have been curled around each other in a tube, causing them to fold and crease. There are small tears on a couple of the sheets but despite this they remain in an excellent condition.
Materials: Paper, Card.