Marionette
Pelham Puppets
Category
Toys
Date
1963 (copyright date)
Materials
Composition, fur fabric, fabric, cotton thread, wood and paper
Measurements
Puppet - 295 mm (height); 860 mm (height), Box - 350 mm (length); 131 mm (width); 102 mm (depth), Leaflet - 279 mm (width); 207 mm (height)
Place of origin
Marlborough
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 663603
Summary
An articulated Pelham Puppet 'Mother Bear' with control and strings attached, in its original cardboard box with instructions. She has a moulded head, hands and feet, possibly made of composition. Her head has painted facial details on a grey background, comprising large green eyes, black eyebrows and eyelashes, a long black nose, grey ears with pink interiors, pink cheeks, a red mouth and black and white streaked 'fur' around the edge of the head. Her hands are white and her feet are grey. The rest of her body is covered in grey fur fabric over a solid body and jointed arms, legs and neck. She wears an orange skirt with white zig-zag trimming around the bottom edge. Around her neck is a necklace of multi-coloured felt flowers stitched together with green thread. The puppet is in good condition apart from slight chipping of the paint on her nose, scuffing of the soles of her feet and a brown stain on one of the felt flowers. The control is made from two pieces of wood which pivot around a metal pin at the centre. The strings are made from different coloured cotton threads which are attached to metal 'eyes' screwed into the cradle. Each of these 'eyes' is surrounded by a rubber 'cup' whose colour corresponds with the colour of the thread. Finer pieces of grey cotton thread have been grafted in in places. The wood is scratched at one end and the rubber is showing signs of deterioration. The original rectangular cardboard box has a colour-printed lid which has a yellow background. In the centre, in black, is 'Pelham', with 'Puppets' below, each letter decorated in patterns of different colours, and 'Marlborough Wilts' below that, in white on a black background. On the left is an image of a pair of king and queen puppets and on the right, two dragon puppets. Along the lower edge is 'Hand Made Puppets for Children with Fully Illustrated Instructions' in black. Around the sides of the box are images of several puppet characters made by Pelham, including a frog, rabbit, father bear, baby bear, giant etc, plus this Mother Bear. Each end of the box has 'Pelham Puppets' printed in the same colours as the top of the lid, and one end also has 'All Characters Copyright, January 1963' in black, while the other end has 'Made in England' in black with a white oval below over which is printed 'Mother Bear' in black. This end also has a white sticker reading 'Gifts Galore, 196 Union Street, Oldham' printed in red and '37/6' hand written in blue. The lid of the box is slightly scuffed around the edges and corners and has some black staining. 'Flossie' and 'Private Keep out' have been hand-written on the top of the lid in black pen, red and green felt tip and pencil. The base of the box is slightly scuffed and stained and has a tear on one edge. The puppet is accompanied by an instruction leaflet on shiny white paper and printed in black. One side is titled 'Instructions for the Pelham Puppet Standard Control' with diagrams and instructions on how to control the puppet. The other side, entitled ' Untangling Chart', has instructions and diagrams for untangling the strings. One corner of the leaflet has come away along a perforated edge and is a membership slip for the 'Pelpup Club'. The paper has small creases and tears around the edges and shows some brown staining. Total number of items is 5.
Makers and roles
Pelham Puppets , maker