{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1507584"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1507584/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MU1333/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MU1333/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2020MU1333","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1507584","accessionNumber":"S.470-2019","objectType":"Set design","titles":[{"title":"Ring Round the Moon","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Great 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 the designing of luxury homes in the Caribbean. \r\n\r\n<i>Ring Round the Moon</i>, a translation of Jean Anouilh's play <i>L'Invitation au Château</i> by Christopher Fry, was first performed at the Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud  Theatre), in 1950.  It enjoyed a substantial run in the West End before moving to New York. Peter Brook, the director, suggested that the setting should be a winter garden or  hothouse with plants and trees.  Although untypical of Messel’s style, the set is one of his most memorable designs, and complemented the elegance and fantasy of Fry’s  poetic drama.  \r\n\r\nAccording to Carl Toms, Messel’s assistant, the set was inspired by a Portuguese railway station. To give the set a light, weightless quality, Messel insisted that it should be made from metal rather than wood, which was then the standard material used for theatre set building.","physicalDescription":"Pen and ink and pencil sketch by Oliver Messel for the setting in Ring Round the Moon, Globe Theatre, 1950. Winter garden/conservatory with glass walls, two palm trees and a chair, centre. To left and right, slatted screens. Signed, lower right. The design is drawn on one side of a folded piece of paper.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Messel, Oliver Hilary Sambourne","id":"A4929"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pen and ink and pencil on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2020MU1333"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES356267"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"set design","id":"THES284798"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1949","earliest":"1944-01-01","latest":"1953-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"S.225-2006","id":"O126627"},"association":"Model"},{"object":{"text":"S.475-1980","id":"O154968"},"association":"Model"}],"creditLine":"Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"38.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"<i>Ring Round the Moon</i>, a translation of Jean Anouilh's play <i>L’Invitation au Château</i> (1947) by Christopher Fry, was first performed at the Globe Theatre,  London (now the Gielgud Theatre), on 26 January 1950. The production, presented by H. M. Tennent Productions Ltd, was directed by Peter Brook, with a cast that included Paul Scofield, Claire Bloom and Margaret Rutherford. \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&A from 1981 on indefinite loan.  The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver  Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005.\r\n\r\nHistorical significance: The set for <i>Ring Round the Moon</i> is one of Messel's most famed set designs.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Set sketch by Oliver Messel for Jean Anouilh's play <i>Ring Round the Moon</i> (translated by Christopher Fry), Globe Theatre, London, 1950","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pinkham, Roger (ed.) <i>Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983</i>\r\nLondon: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.  200p., ill\r\nISBN 090520958"}],"production":"Reason 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.470-2019"],"accessionNumberNum":"470","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2019,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"TM Rotation Number","id":"THES50368"},"number":"ROT 2347"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-18","recordCreationDate":"2019-08-14","availableToBook":true}}