Not currently on display at the V&A

Photograph of members of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, 1938

Photograph
1938 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This photograph shows puppeteers and members of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild standing outside Victory House, Leicester Square, for a Press Agency photograph to mark the opening of the 13th annual exhibition of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild at Victory House, Leicester Square. The exhibition was opened by the fourteen-year old Molly Sheldrake, billed as Britain's youngest Punch and Judy performer and seen kneeling in this photograph. The exhibition drew large crowds and ran from the 24th to the 30th October 1938, featuring almost 250 puppets and demonstrations by 25 different troupes giving about 70 demonstrations. There was a lot of publicity, and in his article on the exhibition in the periodical The World's Fair, 5 November 1938, Gerald Morice noted that Tuesday 25th October was a foggy, wet and cold day but that they filmed scenes from a marionette show all morning, from in front and behind, for British Movietone News. He added that all the national daily papers with the exception of The Daily Mirror carried stories about the exhibition, mostly with photographs, and that Molly as 'the youngest Punch and Judy performer in the country' really caught the press's imagination.



Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePhotograph of members of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, 1938 (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Photograph
Brief description
Photograph of puppeteers including Molly Sheldrake, billed as Britain's youngest Punch and Judy performer, and Harry Whanslaw standing outside Victory House, Leicester Square with puppets, taken to advertise the opening of the 13th Exhibition of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild exhibition by Molly Sheldrake, 24 October 1938. Black and white photograph by the Keystone Press Agency Ltd. Gerald Morice Collection.
Physical description
Black and white press agency photograph of a large group of puppeteers including Molly Sheldrake, kneeling, with a Mr. Punch, and a Judy holding a baby, and several others puppeteers standing, including Harry Whanslaw, outside Victory House, Leicester Square with their puppets, October 1938.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.4cm
  • Width: 20.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Supplied by Keystone. Phone Central 9634-5-6-7.Keystone View Company 12 Wine Office Court, Fleet St., London, EC4 (Stamped in blue ink verso)
  • J4903 (pencilled reference number, verso)
Credit line
Given by Gerald Morice
Places depicted
Associations
Summary
This photograph shows puppeteers and members of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild standing outside Victory House, Leicester Square, for a Press Agency photograph to mark the opening of the 13th annual exhibition of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild at Victory House, Leicester Square. The exhibition was opened by the fourteen-year old Molly Sheldrake, billed as Britain's youngest Punch and Judy performer and seen kneeling in this photograph. The exhibition drew large crowds and ran from the 24th to the 30th October 1938, featuring almost 250 puppets and demonstrations by 25 different troupes giving about 70 demonstrations. There was a lot of publicity, and in his article on the exhibition in the periodical The World's Fair, 5 November 1938, Gerald Morice noted that Tuesday 25th October was a foggy, wet and cold day but that they filmed scenes from a marionette show all morning, from in front and behind, for British Movietone News. He added that all the national daily papers with the exception of The Daily Mirror carried stories about the exhibition, mostly with photographs, and that Molly as 'the youngest Punch and Judy performer in the country' really caught the press's imagination.

Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
S.3496-2013

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Record createdDecember 31, 2013
Record URL
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