Hand puppet of Mr. Punch
Glove Puppet
ca.1950 (made)
ca.1950 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Teddy Corden, born in Nottingham on the 23rd March 1935, is the fourth generation of Punch & Judy performers and makers. He started performing aged nine, with his grandfather Thomas Corden at Skegness, on the east coast of England. His grandfather’s Punch & Judy booth was located on a twelve-foot strip of beach at Skegness that wasn’t fenced off, since the beaches in and around Skegness were then one of the 1,997 minefields laid around the UK in 1940 to prevent an invasion.
After leaving school at 15, Teddy went into the family business that also operated fairground rides in Skegness, and has worked as a performer and maker ever since, creating hundreds of Punch & Judy figures. Once he mastered the method used by the Punch & Judy carver Wal Kent of spinning wood on a lathe, he became adept at working with the soft and light basswood, which is also valued for hand carving.
After leaving school at 15, Teddy went into the family business that also operated fairground rides in Skegness, and has worked as a performer and maker ever since, creating hundreds of Punch & Judy figures. Once he mastered the method used by the Punch & Judy carver Wal Kent of spinning wood on a lathe, he became adept at working with the soft and light basswood, which is also valued for hand carving.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Carved wood with painted decoration, sewn clothes and applied hair |
| Brief description | Hand puppet of Mr. Punch made by Teddy Corden (b.1935), ca.1950 |
| Physical description | Head, hand and legs in carved and painted basswood. Applied hair. Dressed in a cherry red tunic with an orange border, trimmed with yellow, red and green rac rac ribbon braid, and an orange and red hat. He wears a beige cotton frill at his neck, with facial details, hands, legs and the one remaining shoe painted in enamel paints. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Lanchester Collection |
| Literary reference | Punch and Judy |
| Summary | Teddy Corden, born in Nottingham on the 23rd March 1935, is the fourth generation of Punch & Judy performers and makers. He started performing aged nine, with his grandfather Thomas Corden at Skegness, on the east coast of England. His grandfather’s Punch & Judy booth was located on a twelve-foot strip of beach at Skegness that wasn’t fenced off, since the beaches in and around Skegness were then one of the 1,997 minefields laid around the UK in 1940 to prevent an invasion. After leaving school at 15, Teddy went into the family business that also operated fairground rides in Skegness, and has worked as a performer and maker ever since, creating hundreds of Punch & Judy figures. Once he mastered the method used by the Punch & Judy carver Wal Kent of spinning wood on a lathe, he became adept at working with the soft and light basswood, which is also valued for hand carving. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.1059-2011 |
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| Record created | March 15, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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