François Huet
Drawing
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Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- 7 days ago
- In this state since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the work
Pen and ink sketch of D'Egville and Deshayes in Achille et Déidamie, King's Theatre, London, 1804.
André Jean-Jacques Deshayes (1777-1846) was a French dancer and choreographer who worked at the Paris Opera and in Madrid and Milan before arriving in London at the King's Theatre and working there and at Her Majesty's Theatre until 1842.
James Harvey D'Egville (ca.1770-ca.1836) was an English dancer and choreographer who appeared in 1783 at the King's Theatre and in the 1790s collaborated closely with Noverre, becoming choreographer at the King's from 1799-1809 and composing music as well as choreographing ballets.
Read on
D'Egville worked as ballet master at the King's Theatre in London between 1799 and 1809 during which time he created his three act ballet Achille et Déidamie. One of the highlights of the production was the extremely acrobatic pas de deux between himself as Chiron and Deshayes as Achilles. At this point pas de deux work was still in its infancy, the heavy formal costumes of the 18th century having precluded almost all close contact between dancers, and lifts such as those shown in the drawing were almost unknown outside the work of tumblers and acrobats.
The drawing is probably by Jean Francois Huët-Villiers (1772-1813), and appears to be a preliminary sketch for an aquatint published by Anthony Cardon in 1804.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- S.1993-1986
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 7 days ago
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
