Marionette in the form of a caricatured man with two maneuvering bars: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A marionette (2007.7.471a) in the form of a caricatured man with two (2) detached maneuvering bars (2007.7.471b-c). The man is jointed at the arms, legs, neck, and waist. His head is black with black, woolen hair and eyebrows. He has large black and white eyes and a wide, red mouth. He is wearing a green shirt with white polka dots, a blue and white striped vest, and tan and brown corduroy pants. His shirt has a white collar, stitched down the middle with two milky white plastic buttons at the neck. His vest has black plastic bead buttons and a decorative brass chain. The man's hands are covered in black fabric. He is wearing light green socks with dark green images of bunnies and his shoes are black painted wood. Numerous brown and black strings are attached to the puppet at various points.

A wooden cross bar (2007.7.471b) for the associated marionette (2007.7.471a). The bar was constructed from two small brown wooden boards, one longer than the other. The shorter board is nailed to the top of the longer board, forming a cross. A metal handle is attached through the shorter board. Pencil notations on the longer board read: [head[---?]] at the front, [shoulders] behind the cross bar, and [Balance / marionette / from here / back] at the back. A metal nail protrudes up from the front end of the longer bar and black strings are attached through a metal loop on the underside.

A brown, wooden maneuvering bar (2007.7.471c) for the associated marionette (2007.7.471a). The bar has a round hole in the center with a metal grommet. Smaller round holes are located at each end. A tan and brown string has been tied through one end.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 19th-20th century
• Type: marionettes
• Medium: cloth, string (fiber product), metal, plastic, corduroy, wood
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.471a): 19 × 9 × 3 1/2 in. (48.3 × 22.9 × 8.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.471b): 4 3/8 × 7 × 10 1/16 in. (11.1 × 17.8 × 25.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.471c): 1/2 × 8 9/16 × 3/4 in. (1.3 × 21.7 × 1.9 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Amusements
• Topic: Caricature and cartoons
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2007.7.471abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.