Signed with the artist's studio stamp

Watercolour over pencil, 38 by 65 cm

Provenance: acquired by the previous owner from Marina Henderson Gallery, London c.1986

This characteristically menacing figure group is a design for a production of Carmen at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 1947. Burra made a notable contribution to set and costume design for British theatre (and in particular ballet and opera) which are frequently highly lavish and colourful. They include those for Constant Lambert's ballet the Rio Grande in the 1930s.