Not currently on display at the V&A

Glove Puppet

1973 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This glove puppet of a British Policeman was made by Paul Hansard for his puppet show Spellbound in 1973.

Paul Hansard’s career as a one-man puppeteer began in 1971 when John Wright invited him to give six puppet shows at the Little Angel Marionette Theatre in Islington. The success of these plays started his career as a puppeteer. Paul Hansard had worked with puppets before, and his puppet show Johnny and Flonny, about a rabbit and a little boy who was always getting into scrapes, was shown as a weekly serial on ITV’s Small Time when ITV aired for the first time in 1955.

Over the course of his career as a one-man puppet show between 1971 and 1994 Paul Hansard created 13 shows, gave 3,971 performances and made over 200 puppets


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved wood, papier mâché, paint, cotton, cardboard, fur fabric, jersey and leather.
Brief description
Glove puppet of a Policeman, made by Paul Hansard for his puppet play Spellbound, 1973. Given by Paul Hansard.
Physical description
Glove puppet of a Policeman. Carved head with papier mâché for facial features including rather bulbous nose, face painted pink with pinker cheeks and nose, brown fur fabric hair, leather hands, a Policeman's helmet, and two brass buttons on the long blue jersey fabric costume made to cover the puppeteer's wrist and lower arm.
Dimensions
  • Height: 57.0cm
  • Hand to hand, with arms outstretched width: 24.0cm
  • Back of head to tip of nose depth: 12.5cm
Credit line
Given by Paul Hansard
Summary
This glove puppet of a British Policeman was made by Paul Hansard for his puppet show Spellbound in 1973.

Paul Hansard’s career as a one-man puppeteer began in 1971 when John Wright invited him to give six puppet shows at the Little Angel Marionette Theatre in Islington. The success of these plays started his career as a puppeteer. Paul Hansard had worked with puppets before, and his puppet show Johnny and Flonny, about a rabbit and a little boy who was always getting into scrapes, was shown as a weekly serial on ITV’s Small Time when ITV aired for the first time in 1955.

Over the course of his career as a one-man puppet show between 1971 and 1994 Paul Hansard created 13 shows, gave 3,971 performances and made over 200 puppets
Other number
Collection
Accession number
S.1168-2011

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Record createdMarch 9, 2012
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