Not currently on display at the V&A

Theatre Costume

Artist/Maker

Oliver Messel's work covered all aspects of theatre design - drama, film, ballet, opera, revue - as well as interior design and decoration. He also produced costumes for fancy dress and period balls, which were a feature of social life in the 1920s and 1930s. This wreath may have been produced for such a ball, maybe the famous Chelsea Arts Ball, a famous, somewhat bohemian, annual event at which the guests vied with each other to wear the most extravagant or outrageous costumes.

Messel was always creative in his use of materials, and to make this wreath needed no 'real' gold metal or chased decoration. The leaves are stiffened paper, with wire stems which are fixed onto a wire circlet bound with brown paper tape, the whole painted to simulate gold or bronzed metal.

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
paper, wire, paper adhesive tape, paint
Brief description
Wreath of gold-painted oak leaves. Oliver Messel Collection.
Physical description
Wire circlet covered with brown paper tape; along either side, facing towards centre front, are fixed wire 'stems' which support paper oak leaves, the support wires covered with brown paper tape. At the front, the wire forms a gentle point and at the back, the ends are curved around to form hooks, with which to close the circlet. The leaves are painted in gold, overlaid with greens and 'bronzing'.
Dimensions
  • Max diameter diameter: 20cm
  • Max height height: 9cm
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 wreath was originally linked to the film of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, released in 1945. However, a viewing of the film confirms that no such wreath appears in the film nor is there any obvious scene in which it might have been used. It is as likely that it was made for a costume ball or a project that was never completed.
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
Reason For Production: Commission
Summary
Oliver Messel's work covered all aspects of theatre design - drama, film, ballet, opera, revue - as well as interior design and decoration. He also produced costumes for fancy dress and period balls, which were a feature of social life in the 1920s and 1930s. This wreath may have been produced for such a ball, maybe the famous Chelsea Arts Ball, a famous, somewhat bohemian, annual event at which the guests vied with each other to wear the most extravagant or outrageous costumes.

Messel was always creative in his use of materials, and to make this wreath needed no 'real' gold metal or chased decoration. The leaves are stiffened paper, with wire stems which are fixed onto a wire circlet bound with brown paper tape, the whole painted to simulate gold or bronzed metal.

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.
Other number
ROT 6010 - TM Rotation Number
Collection
Accession number
S.526-2006

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Record createdFebruary 26, 2007
Record URL
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