Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at Young V&A
Imagine Gallery, Adventure, Case 10

Caesar and Cleopatra

Theatre Costume
ca. 1945 (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.

In 1944, Messel was released from his war duties as a Camouflage Officer in Norwich to work on the Gabriel Pascal (1894-1954) film Caesar and Cleopatra, reputedly the most expensive film made in Britain at the time. Despite war time rationing and scarcity of materials, he successfully combined pastiche of period Egyptian and Classical style with the liberty that a 1940s audience would understand.

Messel probably mocked up this Roman Soldier’s helmet in his home studio at Pelham Place, prior to mass production of the design. He used Plaster of Paris to create a solid structure, to which he attached bristles from a household broom. The relief decorations are suitably classical, in the form of arabesques and Pegasus, a winged horse from Greek mythology.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCaesar and Cleopatra (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Plaster of Paris, paint, thread, synthetic hair, artificial suede
Brief description
Helmet for a Roman soldier designed by Oliver Messel ca.1945 for the film Caesar and Cleopatra, adapted from the play by George Bernard Shaw.
Physical description
A helmet for a Roman soldier by Oliver Messel for the film Caesar and Cleopatra. The helmet is made from Plaster of Paris and painted black and gold, with a suede lining. Red synthetic hair on the top of the helmet, attached by thread to the helmet. The helmet is decorated with shallow reliefs of galloping winged horses with serpentine tails and arabesques.
Dimensions
  • Height: 35cm
  • Width: 18.5cm
  • Length: 60cm
Production typeDesign
Credit line
Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A
Object history
The film of George Bernard Shaw's play Caesar and Cleopatra, starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh, was directed by Gabriel Pascal and released in England in 1945. Messel designed the costumes and the set interiors. It was the only colour film which he designed.
Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's remaining designs and artefacts (many designs were sold or given away during the artist's lifetime). The collection was briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being placed on indefinite loan to the V&A Theatre Museum from 1981. The Oliver Messel Collection was purchased from Lord Snowdon in 2005 with the aid of the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A.
Production
Designed for the film of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, released in England in 1945.

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.

In 1944, Messel was released from his war duties as a Camouflage Officer in Norwich to work on the Gabriel Pascal (1894-1954) film Caesar and Cleopatra, reputedly the most expensive film made in Britain at the time. Despite war time rationing and scarcity of materials, he successfully combined pastiche of period Egyptian and Classical style with the liberty that a 1940s audience would understand.

Messel probably mocked up this Roman Soldier’s helmet in his home studio at Pelham Place, prior to mass production of the design. He used Plaster of Paris to create a solid structure, to which he attached bristles from a household broom. The relief decorations are suitably classical, in the form of arabesques and Pegasus, a winged horse from Greek mythology.
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 8862 - TM Rotation Number
Collection
Accession number
S.513-2006

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Record createdOctober 17, 2006
Record URL
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