Marionette, Princess Dancing Bear: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Princess Dancing Bear was created by puppeteer Frank Paris, who performed with the marionette in shows for adult audiences that were staged in American theaters and nightclubs during the 1930s through the 1950s. The marionette, which stands nearly three feet tall, has the statuesque torso of a chorus girl or an exotic dancer, and is costumed in an abbreviated costume of halter and panties decorated with white feathers and silver sequins. Its face is equipped with high, sloping cheekbones and a smoldering, sloe-eyed stare worthy of a Marlene Dietrich. Two long black braids, made of strands of fringe, are crowned with a detachable, top-to-toe headdress of white feathers, silver sequins, and glass beads. Its long legs are joined to feet which sport white and silver slippers. The puppet has a beaded headband inscribed with Paris’s name. The overall effect of the marionette evokes a visual impression that combines ethnic stereotype and exotic sensuality and is the embodiment of the puppeteer’s characteristically sophisticated style, which one critic has deemed “the Paris Label.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1935 - 1955
• maker: Paris, Frank
• Object Name: Puppet
• Object Name: puppet
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: paint (overall material)
• Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
• Physical Description: feathers (overall material)
• Physical Description: glass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 34 in x 10 in; 86.36 cm x 25.4 cm
• place made: United States: California, Los Angeles, North Hollywood
• general subject association: Puppetry
• Subject: Dancers
• Subject: Television broadcasts
• Subject: Nightclubs
• general subject association: Television
• Subject: Native Americans
• ID Number: 1980.0352.01
• accession number: 1980.0352
• catalog number: 1980.0352.01
• 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.