Costume Design
1945 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Oliver Messel designed The Sleeping Beauty for the Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet in 1946. It opened the Royal Opera House after its wartime use as a dance hall and became Messel's most enduring production in Great Britain and the 'signature' production of the company, associated with many important nights in its history - not just the Opera House reopening, but its fabulous success in New York in 1949 and first appearance in Russia in 1961. Messel designed over one thousand costumes for the many revivals. He anchored the fairy costumes and fantasy elements in a 'real' world, inspired by the soaring architectural fantasies of the 17th and 18th centuries. The costumes were based upon mid-late 17th century fashions, mixing English, Spanish and French period styles.
Act III of The Sleeping Beauty is given over to the wedding celebrations of Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund. In classical ballet, the final act often had only tenuous links with the narrative and was an excuse for showpiece solos or group dances. Several fairy-tale characters are guests at the wedding, including this handsome Puss-in-Boots, who dances with a pretty White Cat in a pas de deux full of delicate cat-like movements. Puss-in-Boots is dressed in a tightly fitting dark blue coat and contrasting orange trousers, tucked into his boots.
Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain’s leading theatre designer throughout the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, mastering every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.
Act III of The Sleeping Beauty is given over to the wedding celebrations of Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund. In classical ballet, the final act often had only tenuous links with the narrative and was an excuse for showpiece solos or group dances. Several fairy-tale characters are guests at the wedding, including this handsome Puss-in-Boots, who dances with a pretty White Cat in a pas de deux full of delicate cat-like movements. Puss-in-Boots is dressed in a tightly fitting dark blue coat and contrasting orange trousers, tucked into his boots.
Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain’s leading theatre designer throughout the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, mastering every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Costume design by Oliver Messel for Puss-in-Boots in Marius Petipa's ballet The Sleeping Beauty, Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet, 1946 or later revision. |
| Physical description | Costume design for Puss-in-Boots in the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. He is depicted as a man with a cat's head and paws, wearing a tightly fitting 18th century blue coat with wide turned-back cuffs, elaborately decorated purple and orange breeches, and wide, calf length boots. He holds a plumed hat in his left hand. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Design |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | Oliver Messel designed The Sleeping Beauty, Marius Petipa and Tchaikovsky's masterpiece, in 1946 for the Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet, the production with which the company reopened the Royal Opera House after its wartime use as a dance hall. The production was in the repertory for nearly twenty-five years. Messel revised the designs several times, with major revisions in 1952 and 1960, and he reworked the designs when the production was mounted in 1959 for the Royal Ballet Touring Company. Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts. The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan. The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005. Historical significance: The production of The Sleeping Beauty was an immediate success and established itself as the Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet's 'signature' work, associated with many key events in the company's history. These included the first sensational appearance in New York in 1949 (which established the company's international reputation in America,) and in Russia in 1961, when the ballet was performed in its place of origin, St Petersburg. |
| Production | This design may be for a later revival of the production Reason For Production: Commission |
| Summary | Oliver Messel designed The Sleeping Beauty for the Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet in 1946. It opened the Royal Opera House after its wartime use as a dance hall and became Messel's most enduring production in Great Britain and the 'signature' production of the company, associated with many important nights in its history - not just the Opera House reopening, but its fabulous success in New York in 1949 and first appearance in Russia in 1961. Messel designed over one thousand costumes for the many revivals. He anchored the fairy costumes and fantasy elements in a 'real' world, inspired by the soaring architectural fantasies of the 17th and 18th centuries. The costumes were based upon mid-late 17th century fashions, mixing English, Spanish and French period styles. Act III of The Sleeping Beauty is given over to the wedding celebrations of Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund. In classical ballet, the final act often had only tenuous links with the narrative and was an excuse for showpiece solos or group dances. Several fairy-tale characters are guests at the wedding, including this handsome Puss-in-Boots, who dances with a pretty White Cat in a pas de deux full of delicate cat-like movements. Puss-in-Boots is dressed in a tightly fitting dark blue coat and contrasting orange trousers, tucked into his boots. Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain’s leading theatre designer throughout the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, mastering every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean. |
| Bibliographic reference | Pinkham, Roger (ed.) Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983.
London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. 200p., ill
ISBN 0905209508) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.6471-2009 |
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| Record created | July 1, 2009 |
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