Nicholas Roerich
Costume for a warrior in The Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor c.1910, 1930s

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Many costumes for this ballet incorporated fabrics chosen by Diaghilev and Roerich from goods brought to the St Petersburg markets by the nomadic tribes of southern Russia. The armbands and belt of the warrior's jacket are made from cream, red and yellow silk ikat, a woven textile common to countries in central Asia. These fabrics lent the costumes an air of authenticity and produced unusual juxtapositions of colour, pattern and texture.