Headdress, ballet headdress (ensemble)

This elaborate wire headdress of paste diamonds, green stones and feathers was worn by Anna Pavlova for her famous solo Le Cygne, or The Dying Swan, danced to music by Camille Saint-Saëns. This solo was created for Pavlova in Russia in 1907 (although some sources say 1905), by choreographer and fellow dancer Mikhail Fokine. Pavlova performed this solo for the duration of her career on the stages of countries ranging from New Zealand and Japan to Mexico and Canada.

Pavlova frequently had her costume and headdress for this solo updated and remodelled making this piece difficult to date. It most likely dates from the late 1920s. The headdress has lost many of its original feathers and has become slightly misshaped over time, but can be indentified in many photographs of Pavlova taken from The Swan across the duration of her career.
The Legion of Honor in San Francisco also holds one of Pavlova’s Swan headdresses which is very similar to the one in MOL’s collection but with a blue stones instead of green.