rod puppet; string puppet

Puppet in the form of a devil with a carved wooden head, hands and legs (one cloven foot) decorated with polychrome pigments. The puppet wears an orange/brown costume trimmed with artificial fur. Operating rod attached through the puppet's head with a string attached to each arm.

In the first half of the 20th century there were 4 main manufacturers of puppets, with around 100 different characters. The characters were largely stock characters which could be used to tell a variety of stories. Story books were also produced and families would perform the stories in their homes. Faust and Don Juan were popular. Many were Czech folk tales. 'Death and the Godmother' was one. The devil featured in many stories. Šaldová, Lenka, Dr. Theatre Department, Czech National Museum. 2014.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
2001.132
Date
19th Century
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall (maximum): 49.4094 x 22.4409 x 3.8976 in.; 1255 x 570 x 99 mm; puppet (maximum): 25.4331 x 22.4409 x 3.8976 in.; 646 x 570 x 99 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood; textile; pigment; metal
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
SHAREABLE LINK

Continue exploring anthropology

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk