Marionettes
Clown marionette, Tiller-Clowes troupe, 1870s-1890s, Museum no. S.294-1999
In the 19th century, English marionette (string puppet) troupes were world-famous and popular with adults and children alike. Troupes toured the country in the UK and abroad, setting up temporary theatres seating 200-700 people at fairs or on village greens, and playing in established music halls and theatres.
They were run by families whose members carved, dressed, strung and operated the marionettes in short plays based on popular entertainments including pantomimes and melodramas. A band would advertise the shows and play during the performances.
Tiller-Clowes marionettes
The V&A's set of 35 Tiller-Clowes figures is the largest to survive from a 19th-century touring marionette theatre in Britain. In 1873 the Tiller and Clowes families joined forces, flourishing in various combinations until World War I began in 1914. Their marionettes and scenic backdrops lay in store for almost 30 years until they were rescued by Gerald Morice and George Speaight, and more recently revived by John Phillips.
The lightbox below shows a selection of string puppets, or marionettes, held in the Theatre collections including marionettes from the Tiller-Clowes troupe.
Click on the images for more details
Columbine Marionette, Richard Barnard
Columbine Marionette
Richard Barnard
Wood, cloth and hair
19th century
66 cm x 37 cm - arms by side
Museum no. S.892-1981This marionette of the character 'Columbine' was made by Richard Barnard, of the Barnard Troupe who toured the UK and abroad in the 1870's. Her arms are carved and partially bent. She wears a pink silk dress (bodly frais) over a stiffened gauze petticoat with many layers and stiff gauze knickers. She has a cream lace around her bodice and cream stockings to her ankles, and painted gold shoes. She has real hair and a jointed neck. She has two knee strings and two hand strings and one string above each ear - fixed to a wooden three bar control.
Harlequin and Columbine were essential characters in Victorian pantomime, and in marionette versions of pantomime. They appeared in the 'Harlequinade', which was essentially a long and involved chase during which Harlequin and Columbine escape from various characters including Pantaloon and Clown, having comic and acrobatic adventures along the way.
Ball Juggler Marionette, Tiller Family
Ball Juggler
Tiller Family Marionette Company
Carved wooden marionette with painted decoration and sewn cotton stuffed body
England
Late 19th century
Museum no. S291-1999Most marionette companies included straight dramatic characters in their troupes, such as the villain and the policeman, but also presented Variety turns which called for acrobats and jugglers like this. With his dashing moustache, this juggler was part of the Tiller-Clowes troupe. His two juggling balls are cleverly stringed so that, with expert manipulation by the operator, they can balance on his hands, feet or head.
The juggler is dressed in his original black and pink silk costume, with cotton lace ruffles and cut steel sequins decorating his bolero and trousers. His boots are covered in velvet and his carved wooden hands are worn down from years of juggling, as the balls hit his hands. With other members of the Tiller troupe, he was bought from a member of the Tiller family in 1944 and performed by George Speaight at the Festival Gardens during the Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951.
'Policeman', Tiller Clowes Marionette Company
'Policeman'
Tiller Clowes Marionette Company
Carved wood with painted decoration; sewn cotton stuffed body with cotton, wool, knitted & leather costume with metal whistles
England
Late 19th century
Museum no. S.295-1999Troupes of Victorian travelling marionette players had a lot of plays, pantomimes and variety acts in their repertoire at any time, and presented many different shows during their visit to a town or a fair. To apprehend the villain, several plays called for a policeman (or 'bobby' or 'peeler', as they were called, after the founder of the force, Sir Robert Peel).
This marionette from the Tiller-Clowes troupe was originally made as a policeman, with the helmet and sideburns carved as one piece. He wears a blue serge policeman's jacket and trousers, with metal buttons and a leather belt. He is carrying two different types of 'Acme Thunderer' whistle, the type of whistle developed in the 19th century by a toolmaker in Birmingham and first tested by the Metropolitan Police in 1883. Because it could be heard a mile away, the police adopted it in preference to the cumbersome rattles they had previously used to attract attention. The left hand of this marionette is carved closed, indicating that the policeman may also originally have held a truncheon.
'Drunken Wastrel', Tiller Clowes Marionette Company. Museum no. S.306-1999
'Drunken Wastrel'
Tiller Clowes Marionette Company
Carved wood with painted decoration; sewn cotton stuffed body with tweed, cotton and wool costume
England
Late 19th century
Museum no. S.306-1999Every troupe of Victorian marionettes had characters that could be cast in a selection of plays, as well as more specialised performers. This character from the Tiller-Clowes troupe could have played the 'waster' or 'ne'er do well' in a number of Victorian melodramas. He wears a bow tie, showing his pretension to be the well-to-do young man about town, but his painted moustache displays a more raffish side of his character, while the bottle of beer in his left hand shows a dangerous penchant for alcohol.
The string that operates the bottle-holding hand can be strung through a metal ring above his lip so that he can either hold the bottle low, or raise it to his mouth. Several Victorian plays dealt with the evil of alcohol which was a serious social problem, and organisations like the Salvation Army campaigned hard against alcoholism, the drug problem of its day.
Blondin Puppet, Tiller Clowes Company
Blondin Puppet
Tiller Family Marionette Company
Carved wooden marionette with painted decoration
Late 19th century
England
Museum no. S.285-1999The speciality act figures in the Tiller-Clowes troupe include a juggler, a pole-balancer, three Chinese bell-ringers, two stilt-walking drunken clowns, an expanding skeleton and a trick puppet with three heads. In a programme these would have been used by the marionette showman as 'curtain-raisers', before the main play, or as 'entr-actes' acts between plays.
Acts and plays in Victorian marionette theatre mirrored popular real theatre, and this marionette was modelled on the great French tightrope walker known as Blondin. After 1859 when Blondin walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope, he appeared frequently in Europe, amazing audiences with his tightrope walking, sometimes carrying other people. Like all the figures in the Tiller-Clowes troupe, this marionette is quite heavy and would have been tiring to manipulate. His head, yoke, lower arms, hands, lower legs and balancing pole are made from carved wood, while his body is made of stuffed coarse cotton.
Harlequin Marionette, Richard Barnard
Harlequin Marionette
Richard Barnard
Carved and painted wooden marionette
Late 19th Century
England
Museum no. S.720-1990Carved and painted wooden marionette of Harelequin with a black woolen fabric mask. His upper arms and waist are of stuffed calico, his hands and lower arms are carved in one and his hands are painted with lovely detail. He also has carved detail on his ears. His thighs are jointed to his calves, and his calves to his to feet - they are painted as with white stockings and black pumps. He has real hair at the back of his head and a carved and painted moustache. His costume is in cream, brown, green, organge, sage, purple, black and gold triangles edged with sequins. He has a leather belt, a lace jabot trimmed with pink ribbon and lace at his wrists. He has two knee strings and two hand strings and one string above each ear - fixed to a wooden three bar control.
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