The Art of Play: A Pelham Puppet March Hare, 1950-1955

The March Hare
Pelham Puppets
1950-1955
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Pelhams, the wildly popular British toymaker, began in 1947 when Bob Pelham opened his business in Malborough, Wiltshire. The company survived until 1993 and, in that time, made thousands of different puppet characters of both glove and marionette varieties. The Pelham puppets were simple to operate for children and evolved in appearance as fashions changed from decade to decade. It’s easy to identify when a Pelham puppet was made just by looking at it because the designs seem to represent the visual ideals of each era. 

For example, this marionette March Hare could not possibly look more like a creation of the 1950s. And, that’s when he was made—between 1950 and 1955. He features a solid, molded wooden head and hands, all painted. Meanwhile his body and arms are made of wooden blocks which are hidden under his costume of striped trousers, a green jacket and waistcoat and an orange bow tie.

Unusual Artifacts: Schichtl Marionettes Flower Seller, c. 1900

Trick Puppet
Wizard from Kasperle
The Schichtl Marionette Company, Germany, c. 1910
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Germany around 1910, this marionette is part of a group from the Schichtl Marionette Company. He’s part of the “Kasperle” tradition and is, at first glance, the character of “The Wizard.” But, there’s more than meets the eye. He’s a “trick puppet.” He can transform from the wizard into a dwarfish flower seller.

The puppet features a carved and painted wooden face with glass eyes, wooden hands, leather-clad feeties, a horsehair moustache, beard and wig.

While the wizard, he carries a wand, wears a long cream silk crepe robe with a silk collar. Appliqué black felt and velvet magical symbols adorn the silk robe while skull and crossbone motifs decorate his conical silk hat.

Concealed under the silk robe, is the flower-seller. This dwarf puppet wears a white cotton shirt, green and yellow belt and braces, red cotton knee-length breeches and tan stockings. The flower seller holds a metal lamp in his right hand and a wooden bucket of silk flowers on his head—as one does. 

Friday Fun: Antique Marionettes

Puppets.uk.com

As I’ve mentioned before, our Mr. Punch started his antics as a marionette until “professors” concluded that glove puppets were easier to transport and manipulate. Marionettes are quite complicated and it takes a skilled puppeteer to manage them gracefully. There’s a certain elegance about a marionette.

These antique puppets show some of the cleverness and artistry that went into Victorian stringed puppets. They’re rather lovely. As much as I love puppets, I have to say that the “Grand Turk” creeps me out just the tiniest bit. But, I love it nonetheless.





Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Young Professor, Nineteenth Century

Chromolithograph after an unknown artist
Nineteenth Century
The George Speaight Archive at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I very much like this Nineteenth Century print of a beautiful drawing of a budding Punch professor. A young boy with a puppet booth carries a drum on his back. In front of him he walks his puppet, a marionette figure of Mr. Punch.

What’s interesting about this is that by the Nineteenth Century, most Punchinellos were glove puppets which were performed in the Victorian style fit-up which first comes to mind when we think of Punch & Judy. In fact, marionette Punch and Judy shows were a century out of vogue in the U.K. So, this was a sort of nod to the antique and that makes it all the more charming.

Of course, this is from the George Speaight Archive at the V&A.

The reverse shows a page from an album.

The Art of Play: The Ebenezer Scrooge Marionette, 1979

Marionette of Ebenezer Scrooge
Frances and Peter Grant, 1979
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Though made in 1979, this marionette puts me in mind of the Victorian puppets made in the Nineteenth Century by the Tiller-Clowes troupe. Here, we see Ebenezer Scrooge. He was made, along with twenty-two others, by Peter and Frances Grant for their puppet production of “A Christmas Carol.” Their Theater of Marionettes toured Britain in 1979 with this production. 

The Grants had a long history of puppetry. They began their company in the 1960s, and, over time made their way across Britain and Europe to the delight of many.

Frances Grant sculpted the bodies of their marionettes. She used obeche, a tropical wood valued for its smoothness and lack of resin. The faces, hands and feet were also sculpted by Frances who employed epoxy resin to create expressive features. Peter Grant costumed the figures and created all the props. 

Unusual Artifacts: Schichtl Marionettes Flower Seller, c. 1900

Trick Puppet
Wizard from Kasperle
The Schichtl Marionette Company, Germany, c. 1910
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Germany around 1910, this marionette is part of a group from the Schichtl Marionette Company. He’s part of the “Kasperle” tradition and is, at first glance, the character of “The Wizard.” But, there’s more than meets the eye. He’s a “trick puppet.” He can transform from the wizard into a dwarfish flower seller.

The puppet features a carved and painted wooden face with glass eyes, wooden hands, leather-clad feeties, a horsehair moustache, beard and wig.

While the wizard, he carries a wand, wears a long cream silk crepe robe with a silk collar. Appliqué black felt and velvet magical symbols adorn the silk robe while skull and crossbone motifs decorate his conical silk hat.

Concealed under the silk robe, is the flower-seller. This dwarf puppet wears a white cotton shirt, green and yellow belt and braces, red cotton knee-length breeches and tan stockings. The flower seller holds a metal lamp in his right hand and a wooden bucket of silk flowers on his head—as one does. 

Unusual Artifacts: The Tiller-Clowes Polander, 1870-1890

Polander
The Tiller-Clowes Marionette Troupe
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here’s another of the set of thirty-five marionettes from the Victorian Tiller-Clowes marionette troupe which wowed London in the mid-to-late Nineteenth Century. This one, like its brothers, features a head, legs and hands of carved and painted wood as well as its original handmade costume.

You may not instantly recognize what or who this figure represents. He’s a “polander” or a pole dancer, and, no, not the kind of pole dancers we have today. He’s based on a real man, “The Great Polander” who was a hit in London in the late Eighteenth Century. The act involved dancing while juggling a pole. And, that’s what this marionette can do. He’s incredibly difficult, I imagine, to operate since juggling the pole requires the figure to switch the object from hand to hand.

At the Music Hall and the Art of Play: Tommy One Leg, 1870-90

"Tommy One Leg"
Tiller-Clowes Marionette Troupe
Lincolnshire
1870-90
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the Tiller-Clowes troupe--one of the last Victorian marionette troupes in England—we see this marionette who is called “Tommy One Leg.”  Tommy was made by the troupe in Lincolnshire  between 1870 and 1890.  He is a one-eyed, one-legged Russian sailor fiddler who was specially made for the popular comic music hall song “How Cruel Were My Parients” (sic).  The song was sung by a puppet dressed as Tommy’s wife as she related  the fate of her husband who lost his eye and leg when he was press-ganged into the navy, and how, later, he was reduced to busking in the streets with her.

The song went like this:

HOW CRUEL WERE MY PARIENTS

Oh! cruel were my Parients [sic], as tore my Love from me,
And cruel was the press-gang who took him off to Sea,
And cruel was the little Boat, as row'd him from the Strand,
And cruel was the great big Ship as sail'd him from the Land.
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Oh! cruel was the Water, as bore her Love from Mary,
And cruel was the fair wind, as would not blow contrary,
And cruel was the Captain, and the Botswain and the Men
As didn't care a fair-din' if we never met again.
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Oh! cruel was the Splinter as broke my Dreary's Leg,
Now he's oblighed to fiddle for't, and I'm obliged to beg,
A vagabonding Vagrant, and a rantipoling Wife
We fiddle, limp and scrape it thro' the ups and downs of life.
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Oh! cruel was th'engagement in which my true love fought,
And cruel was the Cannon-Ball, as knock'd his right Eye out,
He used to leer and ogle me, with peepers full of fun,
But now he looks a-skew at me, because he's only one.
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

My Love he plays the Fiddle, and wanders up and down,
And I sings at his Elbow, thro' all the Streets in Town,
We spends our days in harmony and wery [sic]seldom fights
Except when he's his Grog aboard, or I get queer at Nights
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Oh! cruel are the Bobbies, as makes my Love move on,
That dear old faithful timber-toe he can hardly walk upon,
His voice to me sounds very sweet, although he's rather hoarse,
He's always got a shocking cold as it's always getting worse
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Oh! cruel was the Bank as broke, in which was all our tin,
And cruel was the Manager as took my true Love in
We've not a blessed Shot now left, the Locker's up the spout,
So my true Love and me will sing, and fiddle our lives right out
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Then Ladies take all the warning, by my true Love and me,
Tho' cruel fate should cross you remember constabncy,
Like me you'll be rewarded and have all your heart's delight
With fiddling in a Morning and a drop of Gin at Night
Singing too rol loo rol loo rol too rol loo rol loo.

Drawing of the Day: A Young Professor, Nineteenth Century

Chromolithograph after an unknown artist
Nineteenth Century
The George Speaight Archive at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I very much like this Nineteenth Century print of a beautiful drawing of a budding Punch professor. A young boy with a puppet booth carries a drum on his back. In front of him he walks his puppet, a marionette figure of Mr. Punch.

What’s interesting about this is that by the Nineteenth Century, most Punchinellos were glove puppets which were performed in the Victorian style fit-up which first comes to mind when we think of Punch & Judy. In fact, marionette Punch and Judy shows were a century out of vogue in the U.K. So, this was a sort of nod to the antique and that makes it all the more charming.

Of course, this is from the George Speaight Archive at the V&A.

The reverse shows a page from an album.

Friday Fun: Antique Marionettes

Puppets.uk.com

As I’ve mentioned before, our Mr. Punch started his antics as a marionette until “professors” concluded that glove puppets were easier to transport and manipulate. Marionettes are quite complicated and it takes a skilled puppeteer to manage them gracefully. There’s a certain elegance about a marionette.

These antique puppets show some of the cleverness and artistry that went into Victorian stringed puppets. They’re rather lovely. As much as I love puppets, I have to say that the “Grand Turk” creeps me out just the tiniest bit. But, I love it nonetheless.





The Art of Play: A Pelham Puppet Poodle, 1950

String Puppet Poodle
Pelham Puppets
Britain, 1950
The Museum of Childhood
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The marionette has had a long and interesting evolution. Early marionettes usually only featured one long string, connected to a handle which allowed the puppeteer to make the puppet bounce around, and little more. Over time, marionettes became more complicated with the addition of more strings, a cross-shaped controller and articulated limbs. By the Eighteenth Century, marionettes had evolved into the form we know today and became a highly popular form of entertainment, especially in Italy. In Venice, for example, marionettes had a hey-day for a period of several decades. Theatrical companies often preferred using marionettes over live actors whom they found to be considerably more difficult and expensive. Lavish puppet stages were constructed and plays were written expressly for wooden performers. Our beloved Mr. Punch, in fact, began his existence as a marionette before his own personal evolution into the more easily-operated glove puppet we know today.


Though they were traditionally theatrical tools used by adults, by the Twentieth Century, puppets had become kid-stuff. Marionettes were designed in a smaller scale with relatively easy controllers. In Britain, one puppet-maker seemed to dominate the market, Pelham Puppets. Their line of marionettes was quite popular. This poodle, for example, with articulated limbs and a curiously complicated system of strings was a best-seller between 1950 and 1959.

The Art of Play: The Tiller Family Devil, c. 1870

Devil Puppet
The Tiller-Clowes Troupe
1870-1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We’ve examined several of the marionettes from the Tiller-Clowes troupe--one of the last Victorian marionette troupes in England. Thirty-five of their original Nineteenth Century marionettes remain and, though they live at the V&A, are sometimes trotted out for shows.

The figures were carved, painted, dressed and performed by members of the company. Here we see the stock character of the Devil. His flashing purple eyes are made from foil paper. This figure would mostly have been used in the harlequinade of a pantomime, or any play requiring such a character—especially marionette versions of Punch & Judy.

The puppet’s face, beard, hands and fingernails are very strongly carved with more detail than is usual for the puppets from this troupe. One horn and his hooves were missing and have been recently reconstructed. Originally, there were strings to the ears and the top of the head, and there is a staple in his head for a head string. There are eyelets to the knees, but the figure is unstrung and hasn’t been used in nearly a century. It was made in between 1870 and 1890.

The Art of Play: The Three-Headed Scaramouche, 1870-1890

Scaramouche--Trick Marionette
The Tiller Clowes Troupe, 1870-1890
Restored by George Speaight
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Another marionette from the Victorian troupe of the Tiller-Clowes family, this figure depicts Mr. Scaramouche, a character which was adapted from the Italian Commedia dell’Arte to the English Punch and Judy tradition.

Made between 1870 and 1890, the marionette still wears his original costume and survives in excellent condition. Whether a glove puppet or a marionette, Scaramouche is often employed as a trick puppet. Usually, his neck extends to twice the length of his body, however, this example is a little different.

He features three heads. The two smaller heads are inserted in the larger head which is supported by the body. The largest head wears a purple silk hat, the second head wears a striped cotton hat and the third is hatless. At the point in the show when Scaramouche becomes overwhelmed by Mr. Punch, typically, he shows his frustration by having his neck extend upward. In this case, however, instead of his neck growing, Scaramouche shows his angst by having the two smaller heads pop out of the largest head—creating a comic effect of utter confusion. 

The Art of Play: The Tiller-Clowes Music Hall Ball Juggler Marionette, 1870-1890

Trick Marionette
Tiller-Clowes Family, 1870-1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We've looked at other puppets from the Victorian Tiller-Clowes marionette troupe. The V&A houses thirty-five of the troupe's Nineteenth Century figures, most of which retain their original paint and costumes. In 1945, George Speaight purchased the collection and worked to restore the puppets. Upon his death, the collection was left to the V&A.

This marionette, in his original outfit, represents a ball juggler. This figure would have been inordinately complicated to operate. The balls which the figure can "juggle" can be made to rest on his feet, hands or head. Such trick puppets were often used as entertainment before a show or between acts and also enjoyed independent success when members of the troupe would perform alone as a novelty at a music hall.

The Art of Play: The Gair Wilkinson Monkey Puppet, 1928

Marionette
Wood
1928
This and all
related images:
The Victoria &
Albert Museum

This  little wooden simian is quite realistic and beautifully carved. This marionette is easy to operate due to its flawless construction and remarkably light weight. This is the work of artist Arthur Wilkinson (1882-1957) who was inspired to make puppets after becoming enchanted by a group of toy Italian puppets in 1914. 

This new passion led to Wilkinson becoming a professional puppeteer, subsequently touring England in a caravan with his brother, Walter. Walter Wilkinson, later, independently, spear-headed a revival of glove puppetry in Britain, while Arthur Wilkinson continued with his marionettes.

Feeling much the way that I do about puppetry in the present-day U.S., Arthur Wilkinson was distressed that puppetry had been neglected in England in the 1920s. His answer to this was to introduce The Marionette Society which was dedicated to producing marionette theatre throughout England. 

The inaugural performance of his new Marionette Society was at the Poetry Bookshop in London in November 1923. During the performance he employed his own figures including Harlequin, Columbine, the dragon and Pantaloon. Later, around 1928, he carved an impressive set of marionettes and introduced them into the show. This set includes this monkey and Marino, Pagliacci and Pimpinella, and different figures of Harlequin and Columbine. 

This figure is referred to as the Gair Wilkinson monkey because after Arthur Wilkinson married Lily Gair his show became known as the “Gair Wilkinson Marionettes.” Later Arthur used the professional name Gair Wilkinson as his own moniker. 

The Art of Play: The Ebenezer Scrooge Marionette, 1979

Marionette of Ebenezer Scrooge
Frances and Peter Grant, 1979
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Though made in 1979, this marionette puts me in mind of the Victorian puppets made in the Nineteenth Century by the Tiller-Clowes troupe. Here, we see Ebenezer Scrooge. He was made, along with twenty-two others, by Peter and Frances Grant for their puppet production of “A Christmas Carol.” Their Theater of Marionettes toured Britain in 1979 with this production. 

The Grants had a long history of puppetry. They began their company in the 1960s, and, over time made their way across Britain and Europe to the delight of many.

Frances Grant sculpted the bodies of their marionettes. She used obeche, a tropical wood valued for its smoothness and lack of resin. The faces, hands and feet were also sculpted by Frances who employed epoxy resin to create expressive features. Peter Grant costumed the figures and created all the props. 

The Art of Play: A Pelham Puppet March Hare, 1950-1955

The March Hare
Pelham Puppets
1950-1955
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Pelhams, the wildly popular British toymaker, began in 1947 when Bob Pelham opened his business in Malborough, Wiltshire. The company survived until 1993 and, in that time, made thousands of different puppet characters of both glove and marionette varieties. The Pelham puppets were simple to operate for children and evolved in appearance as fashions changed from decade to decade. It’s easy to identify when a Pelham puppet was made just by looking at it because the designs seem to represent the visual ideals of each era. 

For example, this marionette March Hare could not possibly look more like a creation of the 1950s. And, that’s when he was made—between 1950 and 1955. He features a solid, molded wooden head and hands, all painted. Meanwhile his body and arms are made of wooden blocks which are hidden under his costume of striped trousers, a green jacket and waistcoat and an orange bow tie.

Drawing of the Day: A Young Professor, Nineteenth Century

Chromolithograph after an unknown artist
Nineteenth Century
The George Speaight Archive at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I very much like this Nineteenth Century print of a beautiful drawing of a budding Punch professor. A young boy with a puppet booth carries a drum on his back. In front of him he walks his puppet, a marionette figure of Mr. Punch.

What’s interesting about this is that by the Nineteenth Century, most Punchinellos were glove puppets which were performed in the Victorian style fit-up which first comes to mind when we think of Punch & Judy. In fact, marionette Punch and Judy shows were a century out of vogue in the U.K. So, this was a sort of nod to the antique and that makes it all the more charming.

Of course, this is from the George Speaight Archive at the V&A.

The reverse shows a page from an album.

The Art of Play: A Tiller Family Marionette, 1870-1890

Marionette
Tiller-Clowes Troupe
1870-1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Lincolnshire, England, between 1870 and 1890, here’s another marionette from the Tiller-Clowes Troupe. This one is lightly stuffed in the torso to allow her a flexible waist. Depicting a stock character young lady, she features a carved wooden head with a painted face and glass eyes. Her wig is made of real human hair.

The figure’s ivory silk dress is edged with turquoise blue wool with silk embroidery. This is her original dress and, sadly, it’s rotting and frayed in places. Similarly, while one of her original control bars, the one which would have operated her legs is long gone.

This is one of 35 original marionettes from the famous Victorian puppeteers, the Tiller-Clowes Troupe. The group was purchased in 1945 by puppeteer and puppetry historian George Speaight who oversaw the restoration of the majority of the figures. The puppets were lent to a German troupe in the 1980s, and, then Speaight sold them to John Philips, an expert puppeteer who bequeathed them to the V&A.

The Art of Play: A Tiller-Clowes Troupe Marionette, c. 1870

Marionette
Tiller-Clowes Troupe
C. 1870
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Another from the collection of thirty-five Victorian marionettes from The Tiller-Clowes Troupe, this gorgeous puppet was made around 1870.

Depicting a young woman, this hand-carved and painted figure wears a wig of later origin. However, beneath this, hair has been meticulously carved and picked out. She isn’t wearing her original costume, but rather one given her in the Edwardian era. It consists of a blouse of red and white striped cotton blouse over a skirt of heavy wool. All of the buttons work.