Antique Image of the Day: Gioco de Burattini al Mole

Gioco de Burrattini al Mole
The George Speaight Punch & Judy Archive
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This attractive engraving is entitled “Gioco de Burattini al mole.”  It depicts an Italian Pulcinella (Mr. Punch’s Italian cousin) puppet show being performed in the traditional white booth or “fit-up.” 

Hand colored in watercolor and printed by an unknown publisher, it’s difficult to say when this image was produced.  The V&A dates it between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries.  The print was part of the collection of George Speaight, the famed theatre historian, whose collection of Punch & Judy ephemera was bequeathed to the V&A.