Italian Prince Marionette: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This beautifully made marionette, known as the Prince, has a wooden body and appendages with a molded felt head. He is dressed in an 18th century style blue silk coat and a felt crown. Meticulous attention has been paid to every detai of his clothing and the painted face He is manipulated using eight strings and two bars . His provenance suggests Italian origins from around 1900. He is probably one of a pair to the princess (1979.1164.04).

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1900
• Object Name: puppet
• Physical Description: silk (overall material)
• Physical Description: felt (overall material)
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: paint (overall material)
• Physical Description: string (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 16 in; 40.64 cm
• place made: Italy
• general subject association: Puppetry
• ID Number: 1979.1164.03
• accession number: 1979.1164
• catalog number: 1979.1164.03
• Credit Line: Gift of Hazelle H. and J. Woodson Rollins
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.