Petrouchka is a ballet in four scenes devised and composed by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), with sets and costumes by Alexandre Benois (1870-1960) and choreography by Mikhail Fokine (1880-1942). The ballet was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) and premiered with his Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 13 June 1911 with Vaslav Nijinsky portraying the title character.
The ballet, set in Saint Petersburg in 1830 during the city's Shrovetide Fair, tells the story of three puppets, Petrouchka, a gangly and awkward puppet who is in love with the Ballerina, who in turn is in love with the Moor. All three puppets are brought to life by the Charlatan, or magician, during the fair, but when the Ballerina rejects Petrouchka, he challenges the Moor, who kills him. The ballet ends with the Charlatan showing the fair crowd Petrouchka's straw-filled puppet body to ease their fears of what they just saw, but when the crowd has dispersed, the spirit of Petrouchka appears to the Charlatan scaring him away, before collapsing again.
Benois' designs for Petrouchka drew largely from his personal memories of attending the Shrovetide Fairs in Saint Petersburg, with the opening and closing scenes, such as depicted in the present lot, set in Admiralty Square and costumes designed as accurate recreations of period clothing. Another version of Benois' set design for this scene, dated 1925, was sold from the collection of Annabel's, Christie's, London, 20 November 2018, lot 97, along with two different designs for Petrouchka's room, dated 1936 and 1930, lots 95 and 96 respectively. Additionally, four costume designs by Benois for Petrouchka were previously sold from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection, Christie's, New York, 25 October 2022, lot 1779.