Glove Puppet thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Glove Puppet

ca.1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This Skeleton Ghost is one of a set of figures used in his Punch and Judy show by Will Judge (1883-1960), billed variously as 'the Norfolk Comedian' and 'Refined Comedian and Patterer'. Although he performed all over the British isles, he was best known in East Anglia and the North of England. He played Dame in pantomime and married Gertrude Orchard, who played Principal Boy. The figures were a gift from his son, along with an archive relating to Will Judge's career, although it contains no reference to him working as a Punch and Judy man.

Mr Punch was first recorded in England in 1662 by the famous diarist Samuel Pepys when he saw him as a marionette, operated in Covent Garden by the Italian puppet showman Signor Bologna. Pulchinella, as he was then called, was presented within a tent rather than in the type of booth we know today. Pepys brought his wife to see the show two weeks later and that October the same show was performed at Whitehall for the King. Punch originally had a wife called Joan, but by the 19th century she had become Judy.









Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved and painted wood with sewn fabric.
Brief description
Glove puppet of the Skeleton Ghost used by Will Judge (1883-1960), known as 'the Norfolk Comedian'. Part of a set of figures for a Punch and Judy show. Unknown maker, early 20th century. Given by Patric Judge.
Physical description
Glove puppet of the Skeleton Ghost with a carved wooden face painted white, with painted black eye sockets, and carved wooden hands. It wears a cream cotton hooded, long-sleeved robe gathered at the neckline and the wrists.
Dimensions
  • Height: 42.0cm (Maximum height)
  • Width: 40.0cm (Maximum width, arms outstretched.)
Credit line
Given by Patric Judge in memory of his grandfather Will Judge (1883-1960).
Object history
This is one of a set of Punch & Judy figures donated by the grandson of the 'Norfolk Comedian' Will Judge (1883-1960), also known as the 'Refined Comedian and Patterer'. His grandson did not know when his grandfather acquired the set, or performed with them.
Subject depicted
Associations
Literary referencePunch and Judy
Summary
This Skeleton Ghost is one of a set of figures used in his Punch and Judy show by Will Judge (1883-1960), billed variously as 'the Norfolk Comedian' and 'Refined Comedian and Patterer'. Although he performed all over the British isles, he was best known in East Anglia and the North of England. He played Dame in pantomime and married Gertrude Orchard, who played Principal Boy. The figures were a gift from his son, along with an archive relating to Will Judge's career, although it contains no reference to him working as a Punch and Judy man.

Mr Punch was first recorded in England in 1662 by the famous diarist Samuel Pepys when he saw him as a marionette, operated in Covent Garden by the Italian puppet showman Signor Bologna. Pulchinella, as he was then called, was presented within a tent rather than in the type of booth we know today. Pepys brought his wife to see the show two weeks later and that October the same show was performed at Whitehall for the King. Punch originally had a wife called Joan, but by the 19th century she had become Judy.







Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
S.926-2013

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Record createdApril 23, 2013
Record URL
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