Wolf Paper Puppet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This 3/4 figure paper puppet represents the Wolf from the fairy tale story Little Red Riding Hood and was probably part of a child's toy set. Dates from the late 19th to early 20th century. The wolf is dressed in the style of an 18th century member of the aristocracy and wears a brown, yellow, and pink coat with a white shirt and holds a Tyrolean hat.

The cut out paper figure is a chromolithograph, embossed with decorative details and has a moving arm that is bradded at the shoulder. The puppet is mounted on a piece of stiff cardboard and manipulated with a small wooden stick that extends through a slot at the bottom.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1875 - 1910
• Object Name: puppet
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 7 in x 2 in; 17.78 cm x 5.08 cm
• general subject association: Puppetry
• Subject: Toys
• ID Number: 1979.1153.02
• accession number: 1979.1153
• catalog number: 1979.1153.02
• Credit Line: White City Elementary School
• 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.