Not currently on display at the V&A

Cut Cloth

ca.1870 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of several 19th century scenic cloths for travelling marionette shows performed by the Clowes and Tiller companies, and possibly the only surviving group of 19th century scenic cloths of their type. They are rare survivals which offer first-hand evidence about marionette shows of their time, and about 19th century scene painting in general. They were given to the museum by George Speaight after he had looked after them in his attic for almost fifty years. He and Gerald Morice had bought them in the late 1940s from Harriet Clowes who remembered performing with them when she was a girl. At the same time they bought a quantity of marionettes which are now also in the museum's collection.

Scene-painters were much in demand for marionette shows, as they were for the theatre generally, and when companies didn't have the expertise themselves, they advertised for scene- painters. Each play had several scenes, and to save on the expense of canvas, many of these cloths are painted on both sides, with different scenes. Some even have eyelets which may show their origins as sails.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
painted canvas
Brief description
Cut cloth representing an archway with pillars, part of a grand interior. Painted canvas by J. Tiller, Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, c.1870. Gift of George Speaight.
Physical description
Cut cloth attached to a square wooden batten at the top with five loops of thin rope through holes in the upper battens, and a circular batten at the bottom, cut with a central archway and painted on one side only. The coarse weave canvas is cut with an arched opening and painted in distemper with a view of an architectural arch in an interior, with ionic pillars flanking the archway. Gold paint has been used to detail architectural detail above the archway, and there is evidence of an earlier scenic design on the canvas where the paint has flaked away.
Dimensions
  • Including battens height: 200.0cm
  • Cloth without battens height: 191.0cm
  • Including battens width: 368.5cm
  • Cloth without battens width: 300.5cm
  • Central arched opening height: 89.4cm
  • Central arched opening width: 140.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • J.Tiller Long Sutton Lincs, Englanf (Painted in black ink on upper batten)
  • 2859 (Stencilled in a diamond shape on the back of the canvas)
Credit line
Given by George Speaight.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is one of several 19th century scenic cloths for travelling marionette shows performed by the Clowes and Tiller companies, and possibly the only surviving group of 19th century scenic cloths of their type. They are rare survivals which offer first-hand evidence about marionette shows of their time, and about 19th century scene painting in general. They were given to the museum by George Speaight after he had looked after them in his attic for almost fifty years. He and Gerald Morice had bought them in the late 1940s from Harriet Clowes who remembered performing with them when she was a girl. At the same time they bought a quantity of marionettes which are now also in the museum's collection.

Scene-painters were much in demand for marionette shows, as they were for the theatre generally, and when companies didn't have the expertise themselves, they advertised for scene- painters. Each play had several scenes, and to save on the expense of canvas, many of these cloths are painted on both sides, with different scenes. Some even have eyelets which may show their origins as sails.
Collection
Accession number
S.201-2007

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Record createdSeptember 10, 2008
Record URL
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