Not currently on display at the V&A

Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings, Bath

Set Model
1936 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Great Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, Oliver Messel (1904-1978) won international acclaim for his lavish, painterly and poetic designs informed by period styles. His work spans ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue. Messel’s traditional style of theatre design became unfashionable from the mid 1950s onwards, and he increasingly concentrated on painting, interior and textile design, including designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.

Messel’s first post-war production was Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s comedy of manners, The Rivals (1775), performed at the Criterion Theatre in 1945, and directed by William Armstrong and Edith Evans. Messel designed costumes and sets in a pastiche of eighteenth century period style. The artificiality and lightness of his designs were well suited to the improbable plot and satiric spirit of the play.

Messel's set model for Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings near Bath is composed of paper cut-out and coloured pieces and other materials such as acetate, plaster of Paris and wire. Messel received a mixed critical response to his sets; some reviewers found the sets too fussy, but others admired his feel for period decoration and style.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings, Bath (generic title)
  • Set model (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Wood, cardboard, fabric, and paint.
Brief description
Set model by Oliver Messel for Mrs Malaprop's lodgings, Bath, in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals, Criterion Theatre, 1945
Physical description
Set model by Oliver Messel for Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings, Bath. The set model consists of a wooden box carved and painted in baroque decoration and a gold fringe. Velvet strips on the sides. The set consists of cutcloths and backcloths. The set shows a view of the interior of a room, including a fireplace, birdcage, table with vase of flowers and a painted screen. A view to the bannister of a staircase on the right. A figure of a woman stands next to the table. In front, a red curtain, with candelabra hanging from it.
Dimensions
  • Height: 50cm
  • Width: 54cm
  • Depth: 32.5cm
Production typeModel
Marks and inscriptions
'12' (Printed on a label inserted onto front of wooden box.)
Credit line
Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A
Object history
The Rivals, a comedy in five acts by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1775). Oliver Messel’s production first produced by H. M. Tennent Productions Ltd. and C.E.M.A. at the Criterion Theatre, London, on 24 September, 1945. It was directed by William Armstrong and Edith Evans with assistance from Tyrone Guthrie. It featured Edith Evans as Mrs. Malaprop and Anthony Quayle as Captain Absolute.

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.
Production
Reason For Production: Commission
Summary
Great Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, Oliver Messel (1904-1978) won international acclaim for his lavish, painterly and poetic designs informed by period styles. His work spans ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue. Messel’s traditional style of theatre design became unfashionable from the mid 1950s onwards, and he increasingly concentrated on painting, interior and textile design, including designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.

Messel’s first post-war production was Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s comedy of manners, The Rivals (1775), performed at the Criterion Theatre in 1945, and directed by William Armstrong and Edith Evans. Messel designed costumes and sets in a pastiche of eighteenth century period style. The artificiality and lightness of his designs were well suited to the improbable plot and satiric spirit of the play.

Messel's set model for Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings near Bath is composed of paper cut-out and coloured pieces and other materials such as acetate, plaster of Paris and wire. Messel received a mixed critical response to his sets; some reviewers found the sets too fussy, but others admired his feel for period decoration and style.
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)
Other number
ROT 8878 - TM Rotation Number
Collection
Accession number
S.204-2006

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Record createdJuly 21, 2006
Record URL
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