{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O133524"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O133524/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O133524","accessionNumber":"S.499:1/2-2006","objectType":"Theatre costume","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This costume was designed by Oliver Messel for Sebastian Prospero in Shakespeare's play <i>The Tempest</i>, played by Andrew Cruickshank 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 uses wired crin (a rigid synthetic mesh) edged with pipe cleaners formed into picots (decorative loops).  The 'jewels' are particularly characteristic.  Messel uses glass drops, backed with coloured sweet papers, and surrounded by pipe cleaner or gold paper mounts.  These methods had to be durable just for the run of the play.  He could never have thought that his costumes would end up in a national museum.  \r\n\r\nEqually characteristic is the mix of textures and materials.  While the basic doublet is brown wool, the voluminous sleeves are silk, and both are decorated with the heavy glass drops, which are actually taken from a chandelier.  In wonderful contrast, around the shoulders is draped the coat, made of basic scenery canvas, and painted with muted tones of pink and mauve, which contrast wonderfully with the brown costume.  The solutions are all very theatrical, and this is one of the joys of Messel's costumes.  \r\n\r\nAndrew Cruickshank was a widely-known actor from his may appearances in a wide range of plays and films.  He achieved wider national fame towards the end of his life when he played the crusty Dr Cameron in the original <i>Dr Finlay's Casebook</i> on television in the 1970s.  \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 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.","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":"THES366657"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES366657"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES366641"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"doublets","id":"AAT209829"}],[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"doublet","id":""}],[{"text":"theatre costumes","id":"x47007"}],[{"text":"coats","id":"AAT46143"}]],"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":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The costume was designed by Oliver Messel for Sebastian, played by Andrew Cruickshank, in Shakespeare's play <i>The Tempest</i> at the Old Vic 1940.  \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 Sebastian, played by Andrew Cruickshank, in Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest</i>, Old Vic 1940.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Pinkham, Roger (ed.) <i>Oliver Messel</i>, London, V&A, 1983","id":"AUTH353280"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.499:1-2006","S.499:2-2006","S.499:3-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"499","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Doublet","Breeches","Coat"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-26","recordCreationDate":"2007-03-29","availableToBook":true}}