Tamara Karsavina in The Title Role of Stravinsky's Ballet 'The Firebird', State Porcelain Manufactory, Petrograd, 1921

after a 1920 design by Dmitrii Ivanov, stamped green factory mark, dated 1921

Hillwood Museum, no. 26; Pushkin Museum, no. 73

Oda k Radosti/Ode to Joy, p. 325, cat. no. 246; for comparison, see Nosovich and Popova, pp. 326-327.

Excellent condition. Two small areas of retouching to one feather at the back of the figure's costume, another small area to the protruding feather of the head dress. The gilding to the bottom edge worn in places. Minor firing flaws.
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Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978) was an exceptionally influential figure in dance and ballet.  Taught by her father Platon Konstantinovich Karsavin, principal dancer and mime of the Imperial Ballet, she quickly achieved similar success.  She left Russia for Paris in 1919, where she was the principal artist for Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. 

Renowned for her beauty, Karsavina rejected a marriage proposal from the dancer Michel Fokine at the age of 19.  She later settled in Hampstead, London with her second husband,  British diplomat Henry James Bruce.  In London she continued to exert great influence, through her help in the establishment of the Royal Ballet and as a founding member of the Royal Academy of Dance. 

The costume worn by Karsavina in the present lot was designed by Leon Bakst for the 1910 Russian season.