{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O133522"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O133522/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O133522","accessionNumber":"S.497:1/3-2006","objectType":"Theatre costume","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This costume was designed by Oliver Messel for Prospero, played by John Gielgud, in Shakespeare's play <i>The Tempest</i> at the Old Vic, 1940. \r\n\r\nAlthough by 1940 wartime restrictions on materials had begun, there was still a store of pre-war fabrics and trimmings that could be drawn on.  This, however, was no bar to Messel's imagination - he had always used materials creatively, knowing that, in the theatre, the real on stage often looks strangely artificial, whereas artifice looks 'real'.  Thus instead of lace for the ruff, he used wired crin (a rigid synthetic mesh) edged with pipe cleaners formed into picots (decorative loops).  Expensive braids were recreated using gold paper and raffia.  \r\n\r\nDesigners are often wary of using black on stage, as it can create a 'dead' area, so for the scholarly Prospero, instead of black Messel used a dark blue green, which would have been more 'lively' under the stage lighting.  \r\n\r\nOliver 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 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.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Messel, Oliver Hilary Sambourne","id":"A4929"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre costume","id":"THES268477"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES366638"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES366638"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES366638"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"doublets","id":"AAT209829"}],[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"cloak","id":""}],[{"text":"theatre costumes","id":"x47007"}],[{"text":"breeches (trousers)","id":"AAT46135"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1940","earliest":"1940-01-01","latest":"1940-12-31"},"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":"Weight","value":"3.2","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Costumes from The Tempest, Old Vic, 1940.  Worn by John Gielgud, as Prospero.  (Two cloaks and jacket.)","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Written by Messel on label on original storage box"}],"objectHistory":"This costume was designed by Messel for Prospero in Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest</i> at the Old Vic in 1940.  John Gielgud played Prospero.  \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":"Costume designed by Oliver Messel for Prospero in Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest</i>, worn by John Gielgud, Old Vic 1940.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pinkham, Roger (ed.) Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983. \r\nLondon: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.  200p., ill\r\nISBN 0905209508)"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.497:1-2006","S.497:2-2006","S.497:3-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"497","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Theatre costume [1]","Theatre costume [2]","Theatre costume [3]"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-26","recordCreationDate":"2007-03-29","availableToBook":true}}