Pencil line drawn illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably The Sketch. It shows the actress and society beauty Lillie Langtry (1853-1929) as Mrs. Trevelyan in a scene from a production of The Degenerates. The play was written by the dramatist Sydney Grundy 1848-1914 and opened at The Haymarket Theatre in 1899.
The sketch was drawn by the artist Ralph Cleaver in 1899 and has been signed by him in the bottom right hand corner.
This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914.
