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Oliver Messel Collection

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This material is held at V&A Museum: Department of Theatre and Performance
Reference Number(s)gb71THM/321
Dates of Creationca. 1700-1978
Name of Creator Oliver Messel
Language of Material English
Physical Description 419 files

Scope and Content

This is the largest collection of Oliver Messel's theatre designs in the world, consisting of approximately 10,000 items. It provides comprehensive coverage of Messel's costume and set designs for ballet, theatre, opera and film productions from 1932 to 1973, and also shows his creative process and working methods from initial idea and sketch through to finished design.

There are costume and set designs, sketches, set model pieces, photographs, fabric samples, colour palettes, costume and set notes. Messel's decorative art and interior design commissions in Great Britain, United States and the West Indies are also covered in some depth. Additionally, there are some personal papers, photographs and reference materials.

Administrative / Biographical History

Oliver Messel was Great Britain's leading theatre designer from the 1930s to the mid 1950s. He transformed British theatre design with his lavish and poetic style, leaving a lasting legacy to his followers. His work spans revues, musicals, theatre, ballet, opera and film. Peter Brook acknowledged him as 'by far the most talented designer of his generation' and the stage designer Desmond Heeley said he was 'one of the greatest set and costume designers England has ever produced'. Painterly theatre sets composed of borders, painted flats, cutcloths and backcloths, accompanied by colourful and opulent costume designs, in a pastiche of historical styles made him the most highly paid and sought after theatre designer in the world. As fashions for design in drama shifted in the mid 1950s, he received fewer commissions and therefore concentrated on opera and musical theatre, as well as developing parallel artistic outlets in decorative art, interior design and architectural projects in Great Britain, United States and the West Indies. Throughout his career, he also worked and exhibited as a painter.

Messel was born on 13 January 1904 to Maud Frances (1875-1960) and Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Charles Rudolph Messel (1872-1953), of Nymans, Cuckfield, Sussex. Hi mother was the daughter of the Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910), his father a soldier and a stockbroker with strong cultural interests. In 1922, after an education at Eton, he studied to be a painter at the Slade School of Fine Art under Henry Tonks; Rex Whistler was a fellow student. His formal studies concentrated on life drawing and painting, but he also made masks from papier maché and wax for student events. An exhibition of his masks at the Claridge Galleries in London in 1925 led to his first theatre commission to design masks for the Diaghilev ballet production of Zéphyre et Flore, directed by George Braque and performed at the London Coliseum in 1925.

From 1926 onward, Charles B. Cochran engaged Messel to design costumes, masks and sets for his annual revues at the London Pavilion; these revues, consisting of songs, sketches and chorus numbers, provided him with ample opportunities to develop and exercise his talent for minute attention to detail, inventive use of materials and imaginative pastiche of historical periods and styles. His reputation grew slowly; most notably, his disturbing masks for Dance, Dance, Little Lady, a song by Nöel Coward from the 1928 Cochran revue entitled This Year of Grace attracted the attention of critics; the scene was described by James Laver as "a modern Dance of Death." (Laver, 1933).

Messel's fashionable and inventive costumes and sets for Cochran's Helen, an opera bouffé directed by Max Reinhard and performed at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1932 sealed his critical success and he secured a steady stream of prestigious London theatre design commissions throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He also designed costumes and sets for film productions including Hollywood films such as Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936), and Caesar and Cleopatra (Gabriel Pascal, 1946), both of which showed his skill in creating a playful and sophisticated pastiche of historical styles.

His career peaked with the designs for the sets and costumes in the Sadler's Wells Ballet performance of Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Opera House, London in 1946. His flamboyant fantasy designs and inventive use of materials (due to scarcity of conventional materials in post-war Britain) provided the perfect antidote to British post-war austerity. What became known as the 'Messel Production' and enjoyed many revivals by the Sadler's Wells Ballet / The Royal Ballet up to 1970.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Messel's style was seen as complementing the new verse play movement, spearheaded by Christopher Fry. He designed costumes and sets for The Lady's not for Burning (1949), Ring Round the Moon (1950) and The Dark is Light Enough (1954). His lavish approach to costume and set design was also appropriate for opera; from 1951 to 1959 he worked as a theatre designer for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, then under the artistic direction of Carl Ebert. His productions include Idomeneo (1951), Le Nozze di Figaro (1955) and Der Rosenkavalier (1959), productions which enabled Messel to use his imaginative pastiche of historical styles to good effect. Carl Toms assisted him during the Glyndebourne period, from 1952 to 1959.

During the 1950s, Messel increasingly designed costumes and sets for American theatre productions: Romeo and Juliet (1951) was his debut on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York; other Messel productions in the United States include The House of Flowers (1954) at the Alvin Theatre, New York and the Le Nozze di Figaro (1959) at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In film, he was nominated for two Oscars for the set of Suddenly Last Summer (1960); the creepy garden setting expressed another side to his style described by Roger Pinkham as "eerie, more imaginative and wilder' (Pinkham, ed. 1983); this quality can also be seen in designs for theatre productions such as The Queen of Spades (1950) and The Little Hut (1950).

Messel's theatre commissions began to dwindle after the mid 1950s, partly due to the expense of executing his extravagant designs and use of expensive materials, and partly due to the rise of new forms such as "kitchen sink" drama, and so he concentrated on designing opera and musical theatre productions. In addition, he received commissions for decorative art and interior design projects. Most notably, he formed an association with the silk manufacturer Sekers to design silk brocade patterns to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953, and he executed interior design commissions at the Dorchester Hotel (1953), and Bath Assembly Rooms (1963). He also created temporary decorations, for balls, festive occasions and shop displays.

For financial and health reasons, Messel moved to Barbados in 1966 where he painted portraits of the residents and began a new career as an architect, designing and decorating villas for private clients in the West Indies. On the hitherto undeveloped island of Mustique he designed luxurious villas based on the style of existing French plantation houses. He briefly returned to theatre design in the United States for the musical production Gigi (1973) and was asked to recreate his Sleeping Beauty designs of 1946 for the American Ballet Theatre production (entitled The Sleeping Princess at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York in 1976. He died at Maddox, his Barbados home, on 13 July 1978.

Arrangement

This collection is organised into 5 sub-fonds:

  • THM/321/THE - Costume and set designs, Theatre Productions, 1932-1973
  • THM/321/FIL - Costume and set designs, Film Productions, 1934-1960
  • THM/321/ARC - Architectural and interior designs, 1951-1978
  • THM/321/PAP - Other working papers, ca. 1700-1978
  • THM/321/PHO - Photographs, ca.1920-1976

Many items in the collection have been catalogued in greater detail on Search the Collections. These items have been assigned Museum numbers, e.g. S.509-2006. These numbers are noted, where appropriate, in the file level descriptions, along with the ROT [rotation] numbers that were assigned to them for the purposes of the 1981 loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is available for consultation in the V&A Department of Theatre and Performance's Reading Room, which is located at Blythe House, 23 Blythe Rd, Olympia, London, W14 0QX. The Reading Room is open Tuesday to Friday between 10.15 am and 4.30 pm. Access to it is by appointment only. To request an appointment please email tmenquiries@vam.ac.uk or telephone 020 7942 2698.

Access to some of these files may be restricted. These are identified at file level.

Conditions Governing Use

Archive material may not be photocopied. Arrangements can be made to photograph material in the reading room using non-flash photography.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Lord Snowdon by the Theatre Museum with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, National Art Collections Fund and Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2005.

Custodial History

Bequeathed to Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, in 1978. The collection was stored in a disused chapel at Kensington Palace with the permission of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, before being placed on indefinite loan to the Museum by Lord Snowdon in 1981.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Related Material

Department of Theatre and Performance biographical file: Oliver Messel

Department of Theatre and Performance Core Collections: designs, set models and costumes. These include objects acquired independently of this purchase.

Material relating to stage productions designed by Messel may be found in several parts of the Core Collections, including production files (programmes and press cuttings) and photograph files. Similar material may also be found in several special collections, particularly those relating to H.M. Tennent Ltd (THM/53, THM/93, THM/173 and THM/338).

See also: AAD/1981/1 Ronald Fleming, interior decorator: papers, ca.1915-1976; Victoria and Albert Museum: Archive of Art and Design. Fleming and Messel collaborated on the design of the Penthouse Suite, Dorchester Hotel, London

The following items have been separated from this archive and are now part of the core collections: complete set models, costumes, masks and head dresses.

Personal Names

Messel, Oliver. ( 1904-1978)

Corporate Names

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Company
Sadlers Wells Ballet
Royal Ballet
American Ballet Theatre

Geographical Names

Royal Opera House, London, England Google Maps
Metropolitan Opera House, New York, USA Google Maps

Cataloguing Info

TitleOliver Messel Collection
Sub-titleCatalogue of records in the Victoria & Albert Museum: Department of Theatre and Performance
AuthorCatalogued by Irene Lafferty, David Tomkins, Victoria Howarth, Meirian Jump and Guy Baxter
Revisions

Costume and set designs, theatre productions

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/THE
Dates of Creation1932-1973
Physical Description 203 files

Scope and Content

Costume and set designs, sketches, and set model pieces by Oliver Messel for ballet, opera and theatre productions in Great Britain and the United States from 1932 to 1973, covering his work for C. B. Cochran, Covent Garden Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and H. M. Tennent Productions Ltd., amongst others. The designs are mixed media on paper: charcoal, pencil, gouache, watercolour, gold and silver paint. Some designs are mounted on board or may have been dismounted; these boards often possess annotations, sketches and labels. Some costume designs have fabric samples attached to the design or the board. Set designs are on paper and board; many are cut-out pieces of paper and card and scaled drawings on squared tracing paper which are sometimes only a small fragment of tracing paper. The set model pieces are made from a range of material including acetate, cardboard, paper, Plaster of Paris, wire, wood and pipe cleaners, and can be two dimensional pieces on paper or card, three dimensional or a combination of two and three dimensional elements. The series also includes his production-specific costume and set design notes, costume plots, colour palettes (sheets of colour samples on paper), fabric samples, portrait sketches, set plans and set story boards.

Arrangement

This sub-fonds has been divided into 34 series by name of production in alphabetical order (NB series number THM/321/20 is not used).

Within each series, items are arranged by format (e.g. designs, model pieces, photographs) and then into logical groupings e.g. size and type (for example, designs divided into costume and set designs, as appropriate).

Costume and set designs for Ariadne Auf Naxos (Glyndebourne, 1953 and 1962)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/1
Dates of Creationca. 1952-ca. 1962
Physical Description 2 files

Scope and Content

This series includes set and costume designs and costume notes

Administrative / Biographical History

Oliver Messel designed two versions of the production of Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne Auf Naxos for Glyndebourne. His first version was not performed until 19 July 1962. His second version was first performed 24 June 1953 and revived 1954, 1957 and 1958.

Costume designs for Ariadne Auf Naxos (Glyndebourne, 1953 and 1962)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/1/1
Dates of Creationca. 1952-ca. 1962
Physical Description 7 folders, 73 items

Scope and Content

Includes sketches, designs, notes on the costumes and fabric samples. Includes items catalogued on Search the Collections with reference numbers S.29-2006 (ROT 28), S.32-2006 (ROT 26), S.26-2006 (ROT 13), S.27-2006 (ROT 14), S.28-2006 (ROT 19), S.30-2006 (ROT 18) and S.31-2006 (ROT 20)

Set designs for Adriadne Auf Naxos (Glyndebourne, 1953 and 1962)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/1/2
Dates of Creationca. 1952-ca. 1962
Physical Description 2 folder, 18 items

Scope and Content

Includes rough sketches and finished designs in pen, pencil and paint on tracing paper and paper. Includes items catalogued on Search the Collections with reference numbers S.33-2006 (ROT 74), S.34-2006 (ROT 80) and S.35-2006 (ROT 81)

Costume and set designs for Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/2
Dates of Creationca. 1954
Physical Description 3 files

Scope and Content

This series includes notes, sketches and designs for the set and costumes of Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Administrative / Biographical History

Il Barbiere di Siviglia, an opera (1816) in two acts, was composed by Rossini with libretto by Sterbini after Beaumarchais's comedy of the same name (1775). Oliver Messel's production was first performed by the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at Glyndebourne on 10 June, 1954; directed by Carl Ebert, featuring Bruscantini as Figaro and Graziella Sciutti as Rosina. It was revived at the Edinburgh Festival in 1955 and at Glyndebourne in 1961. Roger Pinkham has said of this production that "Messel chose a palette which echoed the contrasted and thus dramatic coloration of Goya's paintings." (Pinkham, ed., 1983).

Costume designs for Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/2/1
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 6 folders, 76 items

Scope and Content

Includes sketches, designs and notes on the costumes. Includes item catalogued on Search the Collections with reference number S.45-2006 (ROT 189)

Set designs for Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/2/2
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 1 folder, 16 items

Scope and Content

Includes item catalogued on Search the Collections with reference number S.44-2006 (ROT 286)

Flat model pieces for Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/2/3
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 1 folder, 26 items

Costume and set designs for La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne, 1952)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/3
Dates of Creationca.1952
Physical Description 4 files

Scope and Content

This series includes mounted colour set and costume designs and preliminary sketches. It is also made up of flat set model pieces, colour palettes and costume notes for La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne, 1952)

Administrative / Biographical History

La Cenerentola, an opera (1817) in two acts, was composed by Rossini with a libretto by Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cendrillon (Cinderella) by Charles Perrault (1697). Oliver Messel's production was first performed by the Glyndebourne Festival Society at Glyndebourne on 18 June 1952; directed by Carl Ebert and featuring Oncina as Donramiro and Bruscantini as Dandini. It was revived in 1953 (Edinburgh Festival), 1954 (Berlin), 1956 (Liverpool), 1959 and 1960 (Glyndebourne).

Sketches for costume designs for La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne, 1952)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/3/1
Dates of Creationca.1952
Physical Description 5 folders, 67 items

Scope and Content

Includes sketches and colour palettes. Includes items catalogued on Search the Collections with reference numbers S.50-2006, S.52-2006, S.53-2006, S.54-2006, S.55-2006, S.46-2006, S.47-2006 and S.49-2006

Large, mounted costume designs for La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne, 1952)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/3/2
Dates of Creationca.1952
Physical Description 2 folders, 14 items

Scope and Content

Includes large mounted designs with colour

Sketches for set designs for La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne, 1952)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/3/3
Dates of Creationca.1952
Physical Description 5 folders, 96 items

Scope and Content

Includes sketches on tracing paper and paper. Includes items catalogued on Search the Collections with reference numbers S.51-2006 and S.477-2006.

Large set designs and flat parts of set models for La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne, 1952)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/3/4
Dates of Creationca.1952
Physical Description 2 folders, 19 items

Scope and Content

Includes items catalogued on Search the Collections with reference numbers S.48-2006, S.476-2006 (ROT 383), S.479-2006, S.480-2006 and S.482-2006.

Costume and set designs for Le Comte Ory (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/4
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 4 files

Scope and Content

This series includes set, prop and costume designs, flat set model pieces, colour palettes and costume notes

Administrative / Biographical History

Le Comte Ory (1828), an opera in two acts composed by Rossini with a libretto by Scribe and Poirson. Oliver Messel's production was first performed at the Edinburgh International Festival by the Glyndebourne Festival Society on 23 August, 1954. It was directed by Carl Ebert; choreography by Pauline Grant and featured Bruscantini as Raimbaud and Oncina as Count Ory. It was revived in 1955, 1957 and 1958 at Glyndebourne and in 1958 in Paris. Roger Pinkham has said of this production that "Messel concentrated on such designs as are found in the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, and in Flemish and Netherlandish painting." (Pinkham, ed., 1983)

Set and prop designs for Le Comte Ory (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/4/1
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 3 folders, 32 items

Scope and Content

Includes paintings and sketches of props and the set in addition to flat set model pieces. Includes item catalogued on Search the Collections with reference number S.66-2006

Large, mounted costume designs for Le Comte Ory (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/4/2
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 2 folders, 15 items

Scope and Content

Includes some designs with fabric samples and costume notes

Costume designs and sketches for Le Comte Ory (Glyndebourne, 1954)

Reference Number(s)GB 71 THM/321/4/3
Dates of Creationca.1954
Physical Description 4 folders, 44 items

Scope and Content

Includes both sketches and finished designs, some of which come with notes and fabric samples. Includes items catalogued on Search the Collections with reference numbers S.56-2006, S.58-2006, S.59-2006, S.60-2006, S.61-2006, S.62-2006, S.63-2006, S.64-2006 and S.65-2006

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