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Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Oliver Messel (d. 1978) was Britain's most celebrated theatrical designer, the creator of lavish costumes and sets for ballet and stage productions in the country's most prestigious venues. In 1953, he was commissioned to design the decoration for a suite at London's Dorchester Hotel. The lavishly ornate Oliver Messel Suite combines baroque and rococo styles with modernist sensibility. It was restored in the 1980s by many of the original craftsmen, overseen by Messel's nephew, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon. The suite, along with other suites that he designed in the Dorchester, are preserved as part of Britain's national heritage.

Oliver Messel (1904-1978)

Designs for table decorations

Details

Oliver Messel (1904-1978)
Designs for table decorations
Each signed 'Oliver Messel' (lower right) and the one inscribed 'Table for drinks' (upper centre)
pencil, watercolour and bodycolour
each 8¼ x 13¼ in. (21 x 33.5 cm.) (2)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Oliver Messel (d.1978) designed these two pictures for Constance Spry (1886-1960), the renowned florist, social reformer, teacher and best-selling author. Constance Spry democratised home-making in mid-20th century Britain by teaching millions of people that– with a little imagination they could beautify their home with such unassuming materials as berries, vegetable leaves, twigs, ferns and weeds plucked from hedgerows.

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