Carved wooden marionette from the Tiller troupe. Stock character representing an older woman servant or countrywoman. Made by the Tiller family circa 1870 to 1890.

Carved wooden marionette; an older woman servant or country woman with an ivory-toned painted face, red mouth and small red painted dots at both corners of the eyes, with a small light dot in black painted pupils. Both hands are open. She wears a lined black wool dress, a black and white checked apron, a mob cap and a viyella shawl or large collar, fastened at the neck with a brooch. She wears a ribbed cotton petticoat. There is carved, painted hair under the mob cap.

The marionette is constructed with a stiff padded torso; leather loops to attach the legs to the pelvis (probably original) and well-stuffed upper arms. A string between the shoulders allows for head movement.

Two control bars; the leg bar has two notches. There is a five-notch bar for the rest, with added eyelets and run-through strings for hands - notches not used. Also an added screw on the leg bar to hook on the five-notch bar. The string between the shoulders is attached to the centre of the five-notch bar, There are extra eyelets at the temples for a hand to head gesture. There are holes in the mouth and at the edges of the nostrils - possibly there were eyelets here originally for special run-through strings.

This marionette along with the rest of the troupe and three of their original backcloths had been stored in a blacksmith's shop in Lincolnshire for over thirty years, but after cleaning and re-stringing, most of the marionettes were restored by Gerald Morice and George Speaight who purchased them in 1945. They began working on recreating some of the puppets' original repertoire. Since the original cloths were too fragile for performance, new backdrops were painted, and in August 1951 as part of The Festival of Britain celebrations, the marionettes took to the stage again as The Old Time Marionettes, at the Riverside Theatre, Festival Gardens, Battersea Park. In the 1980s George Speaight lent the troupe to puppeteers in Germany but in the late 1990s he sold them to John Phillips, an expert puppet carver, manipulator and puppet historian, whose widow sold them to the Museum after his death in 1998.

It is impossible to identify the precise maker of this marionette since the company made, altered and used figures throughout its career. It is possible, however, to distinguish distinct types, and therefore groups, made by different makers, due to the type of carving. The carver of this object has been distinguished as Maker D because of the flat carving of the nose.

This is one of 35 marionettes known as of the Tiller-Clowes troupe, one of the last remaining Victorian marionette troupes in England. Marionette shows were a popular form of entertainment for adults in the 19th century. Many troupes were family concerns which travelled round the country long before the advent of film or television, presenting shortened versions of London's latest popular entertainment including melodramas, dramas, pantomimes, minstrel shows and music hall. In the 18th and early 19th centuries their theatres were relatively makeshift, but after about 1860 many became considerably elaborate, with walls constructed from wooden shutters, seating made from tiered planks of wood, and canvas roofs.

The figures were carved, painted, dressed and performed by members of the company. This is an elderly woman servant or countrywoman who would have been a stock character, used for any play requiring such a role. Both hands are carved open so she would not have held props.

S.300-1999