Free Trade Hall, on the Evening of the Grand Fancy Dress Ball, 1845

G Falkner

Summary

A view of the fancy dress ball held at the Free Trade Hall on 29th April 1845, its ostensible purpose being to raise money for wash houses and public baths in Manchester. The hall has been decorated for the occasion, with swathes of fabric draped from the balconies and foliage wreathing the columns. The wide interior of the hall is crowded with people, and beyond them we can see a platform or stage where it appears that servants in livery are perhaps bowing to new arrivals. A decorative water fountain at the foot of the stage staircase is in full flow. This is a monochrome lithograph which has been coloured by hand, and the colourist has dwelt on the costumes of the people in the foreground. In the centre, a spectacular midnight blue gown has been sprinkled with white, as if to make a Queen of the Night, with the lady's partner incongruously dressed in a red-and-white striped doublet and parti-coloured hose. There are a couple of noticeable Scots costumes, a scattering of 'medieval' royalty, and several attempts at different national dresses.