Marionette
Edward Hellawell
Category
Toys
Date
circa 1937 - circa 1952
Materials
Wood, metal, Plastic-Wood, cotton, velvet, man-made material crepe, string and nylon fishing line
Measurements
655 mm (height)
Place of origin
Walsall
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 661587
Summary
One of the puppets made by Edward G. Hellawell for his puppet theatre known as ‘The Lilliput Theatre Company' or 'The Lilliput Marionette Theatre' (possibly the 'Ghost of Christmas Past') with control. The character is from for the play 'A Christmas Carol' based on the novella by Charles Dickens. This play was possibly the first to be created and performed by the theatre in the late 1940s. He has a face moulded from 'Plastic-Wood'. He has a large pointed nose, deep set eyes painted black with blue lids. He has a furrowed brow, is bald with a low long grey fringe at the back of his head. He is made of wood with metal joints at neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, knees and ankles. His hands are moulded from 'Plastic-Wood' moulded on a wire frameHe is wearing an artist's dirty pink crepe material smock with a floppy black velvet bow at the neck. His cotton trousers are faded from brown to grey. He wears large black painted shoes. His hands are made of modelling material. Under his smock is a fawn and orange knitted jumper. Nailed to his upper body is black cotton covering. His small control has a tangle of brown and black thin string with two strands of fishing line to his shoulders. History of the company The company was created by Edward G. Hellawell (born 1914-1983) and Bernard C. Lewis (died 1982). As a student at the Royal College of Art in the mid 1930s Edward made sketches for a puppet theatre and between circa 1937 and circa 1952 he created five plays, each with its own cast of hand-crafted marionettes (over 100 puppets). The Museum hold over 90 of these marionettes. The heads were either made from molding 'Plastic-Wood' (a commercial product now discontinued) on a frame or carved from solid wood - finished with paint and varnish. Limbs were made from solid wood with hands made using 'Plastic-Wood' molded onto a wire frame. The 'controls' were made from wood and had fixed leg bars which allowed a puppeteer to operate two puppets at once. Edward's wife Margery was the costumier and dressed the marionettes using scraps of fabric she had gathered together; fabric being scarce during the war. The cast for each play were created in the basement of Edward and Margery's Walsall home. Four of the plays were for younger children (A Christmas Carol, The Lost Princess, The Little Mermaid and Hansel & Gretel) and one was for college students (Faust). The plays were performed to school children across the county - mainly around the Midlands but there is photographic evidence that the theatre performed at Granard Primary School, Putney Park, London in 1963. The theatre also toured seaside resorts such as Blackpool and Herne Bay and did a three week tour in Northern Ireland in the late 1950s and also went as far a field as Norway in 1963. Almost from the start he worked with his friend Bernard C. Lewis (died in 1982). It is thought that they met in prison, serving time as conscientious objectors during the War. When Edward was appointed Head of the Art School in Nuneaton in 1952 he stepped down from performing, handing over Artistic Directorship to Bernard, who continued to tour the theatre around the country until his death in 1982.The theatre (set and staging etc...) then went to auction, but the puppets were donated to the Museum. .
Provenance
Donated by Mr Edward G. Hellawell in 1982. Maker and Artistic Director (1937 - 1952) - Edward G. Hellawell (born 1914 - 1983) Costumier - Margery Hellawell (Edward's wife) Artistic Director (circa 1952 - circa 1982) Bernard C. Lewis
Makers and roles
Edward Hellawell, maker Margery Hellawell, costumier