Not currently on display at the V&A

Polish glove puppet

Puppet
1955 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This glove puppet of the Princess designed by Zofia Stanislawska-Howurkowa appeared in the production of Krzesiwo adapted by Hanna Januszewska from the Hans Christian Anderson story The Tinderbox, that opened at the Teatre Lalka in Warsaw on the 22nd July 1955. The Princess lives in a castle and is eventually freed by the soldier who owns the tinderbox. With her wonderfully demure expression the Princess belongs to the style of European puppet theatre that developed in the mid-20th century featuring puppeteers in full view of the audience, holding their puppets in front of them.

Adam Kilian (b.1923), the set designer of Krzesiwo, is a stage designer, printmaker and illustrator with a great interest in Polish folk art and colour who trained as an architect in Nottingham (1945-1948) before returning to Poland to study stage design at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. In 1949 he began working with the Idle Dreams Puppet Theatre in Warsaw, renamed Teatr Lalka in 1951. In the 1950s he worked on many important productions there with the puppet theatre director Jan Wilkowski who directed this production and has been associated with the theatre for over 50 years. The production included music by Dobrzanski.

Stanislawska-Howurkowa's designs for the puppets for this production are held by the Theatre Lalka Archive.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePolish glove puppet (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Papier maché, felt, wool, silk and paint
Brief description
Glove puppet of the Princess designed by Stanislawska-Howurkowa, from Krzesiwo, Hanna Januszewska's adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Tinderbox, Theatre Lalka, Warsaw, Poland 22 July 1955
Physical description
Glove puppet of The Princess with a painted papier maché face, felt hands and curled and stiffened braid hair, painted yellow. She wears a gold papier maché locket and a long pink silk dress
Dimensions
  • Height: 57cm
Credit line
Given by the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild
Object history
This puppet and S.450-2001 and S.534-2001 were used in Krzesiwo, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's The Tinderbox, Theatre Lalka, Warsaw, 22 July 1955 The puppets are operated by a modified glove technique
Summary
This glove puppet of the Princess designed by Zofia Stanislawska-Howurkowa appeared in the production of Krzesiwo adapted by Hanna Januszewska from the Hans Christian Anderson story The Tinderbox, that opened at the Teatre Lalka in Warsaw on the 22nd July 1955. The Princess lives in a castle and is eventually freed by the soldier who owns the tinderbox. With her wonderfully demure expression the Princess belongs to the style of European puppet theatre that developed in the mid-20th century featuring puppeteers in full view of the audience, holding their puppets in front of them.

Adam Kilian (b.1923), the set designer of Krzesiwo, is a stage designer, printmaker and illustrator with a great interest in Polish folk art and colour who trained as an architect in Nottingham (1945-1948) before returning to Poland to study stage design at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. In 1949 he began working with the Idle Dreams Puppet Theatre in Warsaw, renamed Teatr Lalka in 1951. In the 1950s he worked on many important productions there with the puppet theatre director Jan Wilkowski who directed this production and has been associated with the theatre for over 50 years. The production included music by Dobrzanski.

Stanislawska-Howurkowa's designs for the puppets for this production are held by the Theatre Lalka Archive.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Teatr Lalka 1945-2015. Published by Teatr Lalka, Warsaw, 2017. Adam Kilian fascinations. Published by Teatr Lalka, Warsaw, 2015
Other number
P.47 - British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild number
Collection
Accession number
S.449-2001

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Record createdSeptember 7, 2004
Record URL
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