William John Charles Pitcher (21 March 1858 – 2 March 1925), known as Wilhelm or C. Wilhelm, was an English artist, costume and scenery designer, best known for his designs for ballets,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

s, comic operas and

Edwardian musical comedies Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate the English musical stage, and even the American musical ...

Life and career

Wilhelm was born at

Northfleet Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsf ...

, in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, the son of a shipbuilder."Mr. Pitcher's Art" - Obituary ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 3 March 1925 The young artist showed early promise, and J. R. Planché recommended him to design for the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

. There, Wilhelm created costumes, beginning in 1877, for numerous works, including the famous pantomimes of Sir

Augustus Harris Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (18 March 1852 – 22 June 1896) was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist, a dominant figure in the West End theatre, West End theatre of the 1880s and 1890s. Born into a theatrical family, Harris brief ...

and for others until 1897, including the spectacular drama, ''Armada'' (1888)."Famous Ballet Designer - Identity of 'C. Wilhelm' Revealed", ''

'', 1 June 1920, p. 14 He also designed costumes for various

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

artists and for many London theatres, including

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

, The Coliseum and

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around ...

, and for three pantomimes at the Lyceum Theatre. For Robert Courtneidge in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Wilhelm designed two

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays: ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' and ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. Wilhelm also designed costumes for numerous pantomimes, including ''Cinderella'', ''

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington ( March 1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal,Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, Londo/ ...

'' and ''Blue Beard''. He was the designer for some of the costumes in several of the original

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

operas at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

in the 1880s, including ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'', ''

Princess Ida ''Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant'' is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen; the next was ''The Mikado''. ''Princess Ida'' opened at the Savoy Thea ...

'', ''

The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas stor ...

'' (revival), ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', and '' Ruddigore''. He also designed costumes for '' Jane Annie'' at the Savoy (1893) and for the

Olympia, London Olympia Events, formerly known as Olympia London and sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, L ...

spectacles ''Nero'' (1889) and ''Venice'' (1891). Wilhelm was, perhaps, best known for his work for the Empire Theatre, London, from 1887 to 1915, where he designed both scenery and costumes for (and sometimes produced) numerous ballets, many of which starred

Adeline Genée Dame Adeline Genée Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (born Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen; 6 January 1878 – 23 April 1970) was a Danish-British ballet dancer. Early years Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jens ...

, and which established a fashion for stage design and were much imitated. His later costume designs included '' The New Aladdin'' (1906);

Edward German Sir Edward German (born German Edward Jones; 17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur S ...

's opera ''

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

'' (1907); ''Peter Pan'' (the famous mermaid costumes for the 1905 revival); and '' The Arcadians'' (1909) and '' The Mousmé'' (1911), among other musical comedies. Wilhelm's costume designs were seen on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in '' Ruddigore'' (1887), '' A Runaway Girl'' (1898–99), '' The Toreador'' (1902), '' Three Little Maids'' (1903), ''The Babes and the Baron'' (1905–06), '' The Red Mill'' (1906–07), ''The Soul Kiss'' (1908), ''The Silver Star'' (1909–10), ''The Old Town'' (1910), ''The Arcadians'' (1910), '' The Girl in the Train'' (1910), ''The Lady of the Slipper'' (1912–13), ''Chin Chin'' (1914–15), ''The Yankee Princess'' (1922), ''Stepping Stones'' (scenic and costume design, 1923–24) and '' Madame Pompadour'' (1924–25). accessed 5 January 2008 London's ''

'' wrote, "Wilhelm excelled especially in rendering the spirit and detail of historical periods, but he had also an amusing skill in turning modern costumes to his fantastic purposes.... to his imaginative gifts he added remarkable precision and firmness in execution and great ingenuity in the treatment of colour." Wilhelm also contributed a number of articles on the art of the theatre to ''The Magazine of Art'', including "Art in Ballet" (1895). In his last years, he focused on watercolour painting, especially of flowers and plant life, and illustrating children's books, including ''The Child of the Air'', and he was elected to the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...

in 1920. He died in London just short of his 67th birthday and is buried in

Brompton cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

Notes

External links

Numerous designs and notes by Wilhelm, 1890s
* ttps://www.gsarchive.net/iolanthe/html/index.html Wilhelm designs for ''Iolanthe'', 1882br>Information about the portrayal of Wilhelm in the film ''Topsy-Turvey''Wilhelm
at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan British costume designers 1858 births 1925 deaths People from Northfleet