{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O123723"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123723/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL9897/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL9897/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BL9897","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O123723/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O123723","accessionNumber":"S.31-2006","objectType":"Costume design","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"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. \r\n\r\nRichard Strauss's <i>Ariadne auf Naxos</i>, with libretto by Hugo von Hofsmannsthal, was a one-act opera written in 1912 to follow performances of Molière’s comic play <i>Le Bourgeois gentilhomme</i>. The difficulties of staging such a lengthy work, which required an acting company as well as an opera company, led Strauss to revise the work in 1916 so that it could be staged without the play.<sub>\r\n</sub>\r\nGlyndebourne Festival Opera presented Strauss’s original opera preceded by a shortened version of <i>Le Bourgeoise </i>gentilhomme at the 1950 Edinburgh Festival. Oliver Messel designed the settings and costumes. This production was revived at Glyndebourne in 1962 with an acting company from the Old Vic. \n\r\nMonsieur Jourdain, a character from <i>Le Bourgeois gentilhomme</i> (1670), is a nouveau riche businessman aspiring to the lifestyle of an aristocrat.  He plans a grand dinner party and operatic entertainment, and is still in his dressing gown when his guests arrive.  Messel depicts him as a corpulent old man wearing a flamboyant, feathery gown. In both the 1950 and 1962 Glyndebourne productions the role of Monsieur Jourdain was taken by Miles Malleson. ","physicalDescription":"Costume design for Monsieur Jourdain in <i>Ariadne auf Naxos</i>, 1950 or 1962.  Mr. Jourdain is viewed from the back, wearing an elaborate dressing gown in pink, black, gold and orange. The long trailing oversleeves resemble peacock feathers and the train comes to a point, suggesting a bird's body. He has a white night cap.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Messel, Oliver Hilary Sambourne","id":"A4929"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"charcoal","id":"AAT12862"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"},{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Charcoal, pencil, gouache, paint, watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2007BL9897"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES356285"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"costume design","id":"AAT163423"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1950","earliest":"1950-01-01","latest":"1950-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"37.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"25.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Oliver Messel'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Artist's signature in pencil on the bottom right-hand corner, front of sheet"},{"content":"'Mr. Jourdain's dressing gown'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Pencil inscription on the bottom right-hand corner of the sheet."}],"objectHistory":"Richard Strauss's <i>Ariadne auf Naxos</i>, with libretto by Hugo von Hofsmannsthal, was originally a one-act opera, written to follow performances of Molière’s play <i>Le Bourgeois </i><i>gentilhomme</i> in 1912. In 1916 Strauss revised the work so that it could be staged without Molière’s drama.\r\n\r\nGlyndebourne Festival Opera presented Strauss’s original opera with a shortened version of <i>Le Bourgeoise </i><i>gentilhomme</i> at the 1950 Edinburgh Festival. Oliver Messel designed the settings and costumes. In 1953 the 1916 version of <i>Ariadne auf </i><i>Naxos</i> was given at Glyndebourne with new designs by Messel, and these designs were used in revivals throughout the 1950s. In 1962 Glyndebourne restaged its Edinburgh Festival production with an acting company from the Old Vic and reverted to Messel’s 1950 designs.\r\n\r\nLord 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&amp;A from 1981 on indefinite loan.  The V&amp;A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005.\r\n\r\nHistorical significance: Messel worked for Glyndebourne from 1951 to 1959, when he was at the height of his popularity as a designer for the stage.  His Glyndebourne designs are regarded as some of his best work.\r\n\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume design by Oliver Messel for Monsieur Jourdain in Richard Strauss's opera <i>Ariadne auf Naxos</i>, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1950 or 1962.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"pinkham","id":"AUTH353280"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"The design might relate to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera production of 1950 (seen at the Edinburgh Festival) or to the revival of this production at Glyndebourne in 1962. \r\n\r\nReason For Production: Commission","productionType":{"text":"Design","id":"THES48872"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.31-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"31","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"TM Rotation Number","id":"THES50368"},"number":"ROT 20"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-08","recordCreationDate":"2006-05-05","availableToBook":true}}