Boatmen Figures
Oliver Messel (London 1904 - St James, Barbados 1978)
Category
Stage properties
Date
c. 1956
Materials
Papier-mâché, painted textile, feathers, metal
Measurements
1000 mm (H)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Nymans Estate, West Sussex
NT 1206228
Summary
Three papier-mâché figures of boatmen, designed by Oliver Messel (1904-78), for the Glyndebourne production of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), 1956.
Full description
Oliver Messel designed these boatmen props for a 1956 production of Mozart’s Singspiel (a genre of opera with spoken dialogue) Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio; composed 1781-2) at Glyndebourne Opera House, East Sussex. It celebrated Mozart’s bicentennial year. Messel researched the detail of historic buildings and textiles while creating the sets, costumes and props. The story, which is set in the fictional palace (or seraglio) of Pasha Selim (a high-ranking Ottoman official), presents a romanticized and exoticized view of the Ottoman empire, an 18th-century ‘orientalist’ fantasy. Messel presents the enslaved boatmen in luxurious costumes within the palace set, complete with palm trees and tents, as seen in the set models he made (V&A Museum S.198-2006). Messel’s distinctive aesthetic and approach to design is reflected in the craftsmanship of the props: the textiles, for example, are glued together rather than stitched and hemmed.
Provenance
Produced by Oliver Messel for Glyndebourne Opera House in 1956. Gifted by Glyndebourne to the National Trust for Nymans, 1997.
Makers and roles
Oliver Messel (London 1904 - St James, Barbados 1978), designer