Signed, inscribed and dated (verso): John Piper/Pagodas/Covent Garden/1957

Watercolour and gouache with wax resist and collage, 40 by 73 cm

The Prince of the Pagodas is Benjamin Britten's only ballet and was partly conceived by the choreographer John Cranko (with whom Piper also worked on a number of other projects). It was first performed at Covent Garden in 1957. The present work is Piper's original design for the first production's main backdrop. The inventive and colourful use of cut collage anticipates the artist's original abstract work of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Above: LP cover for the premiere of The Prince of the Pagodas with colour photographs of Piper's sets for the first production