{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O133271"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O133271/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KA4615/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KA4615/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017KA4615","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O133271","accessionNumber":"S.590-2006","objectType":"Theatre costume","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Like many designers, Messel was fascinated by costume and crafts.  He collected items not particularly because he was researching for a specific production, but simply because they took his fancy.  He amassed a collection of hats and headdresses, including several from Eastern Europe, and this cap which probably comes from Hungary or one of the Balkan countries.  There is also the possibility that Messel wore some of them at fancy dress balls, which were a popular recreation among high society in the early and mid 20th century.  \r\n \r\nOliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, working in every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as in interior decoration and textile design.  His lavish, painterly and romantic designs informed by period styles, were perfectly in tune with his times and earned him an international reputation.  By 1960, however, Messel's style had become unfashionable, having no sympathy with the new 'kitchen sink' school of theatre.  He increasingly concentrated on his non-theatrical painting and designing and eventually retired to the Caribbean, where he began a new career designing and building highly idiosyncratic luxury villas.","physicalDescription":"Brimless hat rising to a high-crowned point, lined with grey brown cotton stitched to interlining and with a leather headband.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"astrakhan","id":"x40469"},{"text":"cotton (textile)","id":"AAT14067"},{"text":"leather","id":"AAT11845"}],"techniques":[{"text":"machine stitching","id":"x29587"},{"text":"hand embroidery","id":"x30339"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"astrakhan, cotton, leather","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Hats & headwear","id":"THES48943"},{"text":"Accessories","id":"THES48998"},{"text":"Costumes","id":"THES269529"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2017KA4615"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"014","id":"THES308902"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"national dress","id":""}],[{"text":"hats","id":"AAT46106"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Hungary","id":"x28910"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/06/2017","earliest":"2017-06-30","latest":"2017-06-30"},"part":"Laid flat; base to top of hat","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/06/2017","earliest":"2017-06-30","latest":"2017-06-30"},"part":"Laid flat; width of brim","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"1.3","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/06/2017","earliest":"2017-06-30","latest":"2017-06-30"},"part":"In box with S.500:12-2006","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Messel collected costume artefacts mostly out of interest in dress and crafts, not because he was necessarily researching a for a particular production.  This object may have been acquired for reference or to wear as fancy dress.  \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":"Black brimless astrakhan hat with pointed crown.  Oliver Messel Collection.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.590-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"590","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"TM Rotation Number","id":"THES50368"},"number":"ROT 9020"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-23","recordCreationDate":"2007-03-20","availableToBook":true}}