{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O124925"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O124925/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL9934/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL9934/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BL9934","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O124925/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O124925","accessionNumber":"S.102-2006","objectType":"Set design","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<i>Homage to the Queen</i> was choreographed by Frederick Ashton as the Sadler's Wells Ballet tribute celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June, 1953. From surviving notes, it appears that Messel envisaged the ballet opening with a spectacular procession, incorporating folk and mythological figures; it would close with an Apotheosis showing Elizabeth I as Queen of the Past, handing on the orb to Elizabeth II as Queen of the Present, before leaving her 'surrounded with all the virtues and gifts.'  Then 'in the air above their heads a vision far away of a youthful Brittania ... riding in a triumphal Chariot barge in the clouds which at the same time looks like the sea & the barge is drawn by a lion & unicorn who have become amphibius (sic) creatures.'  \r\n\r\nWhat Messel wanted, in fact, was nothing less than a 17th century Jacobean court masque in the manner of Inigo Jones. Such lavish, fantastical designs would have cost more than his sets and costumes for the main ballet, so on stage the procession of homage was reduced to a simple entry for the queens of the four elements - Earth, Water, Fire and Air - and their attendants and, after the ballet, an apotheosis when the spirit of Elizabeth I passes the orb to Elizabeth II. \r\n\r\nGreat 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.","physicalDescription":"Design by Oliver Messel for a water procession.   Britannia stands in an elaborate barge drawn by the Lion and the Unicorn, both with fishes' tails.  Ink and watercolour sketch in pink and gold.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Messel, Oliver Hilary Sambourne","id":"A4929"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"charcoal","id":"AAT12862"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"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":["2007BL9934"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"006","id":"THES356272"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"set design","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1953","earliest":"1953-01-01","latest":"1953-12-31"},"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":"37.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"25.1","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 on the front of the sheet."}],"objectHistory":"<i>Homage to the Queen</i> was choreographed by Frederick Ashton to a commissioned score by Malcolm Arnold and designs by Oliver Messel to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.  Messel, inspired by Jacobean court masques and the designs of Inigo Jones, envisaged an entrée in the form of an elaborate procession, including mythological figures and characters from folklore, and an Apotheosis in which Elizabeth I hands on the orb to Elizabeth II, who is then transformed into a symbol of virtue; for the Apotheosis, he produced this design of a youthful Britannia in a chariot drawn over the waves by the Lion and Unicorn.   Neither elaborate procession nor Apotheosis were realised in this form.  \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&A from 1981 on indefinite loan.  The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Projected design by Oliver Messel for the Apotheosis in Frederick Ashton's ballet <i>Homage to the Queen</i>, Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet's contribution to the Coronation celebrations in 1953.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Pinkham, Roger (ed.) <i>Oliver Messel</i>, London, V&A, 1983","id":"AUTH353280"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"Reason For Production: Commission","productionType":{"text":"Design","id":"THES48872"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Britannia","id":"N1377"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"lions (animals)","id":"x30150"},{"text":"unicorns","id":"x30658"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.102-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"102","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"TM Rotation Number","id":"THES50368"},"number":"ROT 1007"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-06-07","availableToBook":true}}