Marionette
c.1900 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of a group of marionettes and marionette properties owned by James Tiller, the son of Ambrose Tiller II, who inherited them from his father and revived them for a while before selling them. His father was the second son of the marionette company proprietors Ambrose Tiller and Eliza Cheadle, and in 1901 Ambrose II started his own company, Tiller's Mechanical Mannikin Show and Theatre of Varieties.
Ambrose II married Sarah Chipperfield, of the circus proprietors' family, and had nine children. By 1909 he had added a bioscope to the show. They toured much of East Anglia and Lincolnshire, performing at fairs and setting up their booth in inn yards. By 1914 the emphasis had changed and his travelling show was known as 'Cinema and Mannikins'. The show continued until the early 1930s, but during this time Ambrose and his sons built a cinema at Long Sutton, which they managed until the 1950s. This may be one of the later marionettes made by Ambrose Tiller to add to the troupe, possibly in the 1930s.
Ambrose II married Sarah Chipperfield, of the circus proprietors' family, and had nine children. By 1909 he had added a bioscope to the show. They toured much of East Anglia and Lincolnshire, performing at fairs and setting up their booth in inn yards. By 1914 the emphasis had changed and his travelling show was known as 'Cinema and Mannikins'. The show continued until the early 1930s, but during this time Ambrose and his sons built a cinema at Long Sutton, which they managed until the 1950s. This may be one of the later marionettes made by Ambrose Tiller to add to the troupe, possibly in the 1930s.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved wood with stuffed cotton and wool fabric |
| Brief description | Unstrung headless marionette of an undressed figure in bad condition. Used by the Jim Tiller troupe. Gift Iris Tunnicliff of the Museum of Entertainment, Whaplode St. Catherine. |
| Physical description | Unstrung marionette from the Jim Tiller troupe of an undressed figure in very bad condition, without a head. Carved wooden chest section joined to a carved wooden hip section with a strip of jersey fabric, stuffed and nailed to the wooden sections. Further tubular stuffed cotton sections nailed to the hip section form the legs which in turn are attached to a short carved wooden thigh sections. These are fixed to calf sections by means of metal rods through the calf sections which have hooks at the ankle ends to join them to the carved wooden feet which are covered in red fabric-covered shoes. One of the feet has become uhinged and the red rabric has been damaged by moths. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by the Museum of Entertainment, Whaplode St. Catherine |
| Object history | "In 1901, Ambrose II, second son of Ambrose Tiller and Eliza Cheadle started a company of his own, Tiller's Mechanical Mannikin Show and Theatre of Varieties. He married Sarah Chipperfield and had nine children. By 1909 he had added a bioscope to the show. They toured much of East Anglia and Lincolnshire, performing at fairs and setting up their booth in inn yards. By 1914 the emphasis had changed and his travelling show was 'Cinema and Mannikins'. The show continued until the early 1930s, but during this time Ambrose and his sons had built a cinema at Long Sutton, which they managed until the 1950s. In the 1950s James Tiller (son of Ambrose II) revived the marionettes for a time, but eventually sold his part of the marionette troupe to the Museum of Entertainment at Whaplode St. Catherine, Lincolnshire." (Extract from: John McCormick with Clodagh McCormick and John Phillips: The Victorian Marionette Theatre. University of Iowa Press). |
| Summary | This is one of a group of marionettes and marionette properties owned by James Tiller, the son of Ambrose Tiller II, who inherited them from his father and revived them for a while before selling them. His father was the second son of the marionette company proprietors Ambrose Tiller and Eliza Cheadle, and in 1901 Ambrose II started his own company, Tiller's Mechanical Mannikin Show and Theatre of Varieties. Ambrose II married Sarah Chipperfield, of the circus proprietors' family, and had nine children. By 1909 he had added a bioscope to the show. They toured much of East Anglia and Lincolnshire, performing at fairs and setting up their booth in inn yards. By 1914 the emphasis had changed and his travelling show was known as 'Cinema and Mannikins'. The show continued until the early 1930s, but during this time Ambrose and his sons built a cinema at Long Sutton, which they managed until the 1950s. This may be one of the later marionettes made by Ambrose Tiller to add to the troupe, possibly in the 1930s. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.35-2005 |
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| Record created | June 18, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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