There are some great news for costume fans: Prato's Museo del Tessuto (Textile Museum) reached the goal the institution had set to crowdfund the restoration of the costumes from the première of Puccini's Turandot.
The opera was first staged at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 25th April 1926, but the rich costumes inspired by the Orient and designed by legendary La Scala costumier Luigi Sapelli, better known as Caramba, were considered lost.
In 2017, though, the museum got a phone call from Sardinia where a trunk of costumes, wigs and jewellery had resurfaced: investigations led the curators to realise the costumes had belonged to the famous Pratese soprano Iva Pacetti and were the long-lost gowns for Puccini's Turandot.
As you may remember from a previous post, the museum launched a campaign on Eppela under the name "The Lost Costume" (Il Costume Ritrovato) to restore the costumes. The crowdfunding campaign was very successful and the museum decided to continue it to get further funds to restore also the jewels accompanying the costumes.
The pieces accessorised the ice princess costume, they were made in 1926 by Milan-based company Corbella, an official supplier of La Scala, and they perfectly matched the spirit and mood of the costumes by Caramba and the scenes by Galileo Chini.
The lavish crown is inspired by Oriental accessories, but also features elements borrowed from Art Deco, it is a genuine artwork of costume jewellery, decorated with flowers, butterflies and pearls. Among the pieces there is also a brass hairpin with multi-coloured gems and with two long pendants decorated with pearls and red and blue rhinestones.
Like the costumes, the jewels are not in great conditions: they are very fragile and they lost some beads and pearls; some sections are also oxidised, others lost their shape, and a few parts need soldering. The accessories must therefore go through a time-consuming process involving cleaning and restoring, possibly with parts that may have to be made by special suppliers.
So there is a new and ambitious goal for the museum, €18,000, (you can help reaching it by sending your donation from this page). The Prato Textile Museum will employ the exceeding funds for an exhibition that, scheduled in 2020, will celebrate the lost costumes, their accessories and all the people who have so far funded this restoration project.
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