I was given this hundred year old marionette along with a “dummy” whose whole purpose in life was to emulate a smoker sitting in a box at the side of the proscenium opening to a puppet theatre. These are large puppets and made of carved walnut wood, painted in flesh tones and wearing garments that were hand sewn. The shoes on the Duke were real leather children’s shoes from the late 19th Century. There was a tube opening in the back of the “Smoker” with a corresponding hole in his mouth for a cigarette. Smoke could be blown up that tube and the smoke came out of his mouth or a real cigarette could be lit and the breathing smoke in and out could be accomplished by someone at the other end of the tube.
But it was the stringing of the Duke that took me a whole day. I thought in terms of using him as the base of another, teen-age size human puppet but he is too small and very heavy. My plans were to rebuild him but then he would be lost. He was part of a large number of puppets made by a family of puppeteers who worked in New York and New Jersey in the last years of the 1900’s before the accession of the movies. Puppetry was a family business and like its counter-part in Europe was the sole means of a family’s fortunes and was kept secret so that the knowledge of how they were made and used in shows was passed down to the latest family member who owned them. My two were part of a collection that was given one of my students. I thought she would actually use them as intended but I saw them one day in an “antique” store prominently displayed in a window. She said she needed the money and they were there on consignment. I was thankful for the Duke and the smoker.
Years ago I found that black braided heavy fishing line was the best stringing material to use for heavy marionettes. You cannot find that any more. I ended up using some waxed cording from Hungary which will do just as well for I wanted to get Mr. Duke out of his bag and strung up again. He is getting seedy and there was no need for the humiliation of being crumpled up in this bag.
So, I spent one day in stringing him up and found that the original eye screws for attaching the cording were rusty and it was about time I did some reconstruction. His clothing is not falling apart but is worn. I will have to give some thought to finding a museum where he can be seen and enjoyed rather than being cramped into his bag that was home for years.
You know what? I discovered that I cannot easily bend down to do the tying of knots and no longer have quite the strength I once had to hold him up so he could strut his stuff. He was stylish for his time but he is in need of a permanent home.