Puppet with stand in the form of a caricatured man: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A painted wood puppet with jointed limbs, spring-mounted head, and spring handle at the back. The puppet is in the form of a caricatured man sticking out his tongue. He is wearing a white shirt, blue bowtie, blue jacket with red lapels, and black and yellow striped pants. His feet are painted as if he is wearing white spats over black shoes. A metal spring with a green wood handle is attached to the center of the doll's back.

A puppet stand with a round base, painted black and green. The underside of the base is covered in green felt. A spiral-cut, cylindrical wooden pole with a groove at the top is attached to the base behind a round hole.

An off-white cylindrical plastic peg. The peg is inserted into doll stand on base, over metal spring, holding the doll in place.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1935
• Created by: Unidentified
• Type: puppets
• Medium: Paint on wood with metal, plastic and felt
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.233abc): 13 3/4 × 8 3/8 × 11 1/2 in. (34.9 × 21.3 × 29.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.233a): 13 1/4 × 4 × 11 1/4 in. (33.7 × 10.2 × 28.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.233b): 11 × 8 3/8 × 11 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.3 × 29.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2007.7.233c): 2 3/4 × 3/16 × 3/16 in. (7 × 0.5 × 0.5 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Caricature and cartoons
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2007.7.233abc
• 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.