Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Monsieur Mazurier as Mr. Punch, c. 1820

Monsieur Mazurier
Cooke, 1820
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Quite some time ago, we looked at an image of the celebrated Monsieur Mazurier as Mr. Punch.  Here’s another.  This engraving is entitled simply, “Monsieur Mazurier.”

It was published in Paris possibly in the 1820's.  The illustration portrays Mazurier  in a theatrical stance wearing a Punchinello costume. A puppet figure of Mr. Punch can be seen in the background in the same stance.

Engraved by one “C. Motte,” further inscriptions include:

Mr. Mazurier./ Dans le Rôle de Polichinel Vampire/ Theatre de la porte St. Martin' Mr Mazurier/ in the title role in Polichinelle Vampire/ St. Martin Theatre.

So who is this fellow?  Monsieur Charles-François Mazurier performed in “Punchinelle Vampire” as well as in “Jacko, The Brazilian Monkey.”  Both plays were  written by Jean-Baptiste Blache, in Paris and London in the 1820s. In November 1825 Mazurier performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in “Punchinelle Vampire” which was translated as “The Shipwreck of Policinello.”  Playbills for the Covent Garden performances are also housed in the V&A.