Rattle
| Artist/Maker |
This baby's rattle features the silver head of the puppet character Mr. Punch from a traditional Punch and Judy show. Punch and Judy shows are a feature of British seaside entertainment whose history in Great Britain stretches back to the puppet show that Samuel Pepys noted seeing in Covent Garden on 9 May 1662 performed by the Italian puppeteer Signor Bologna. This included a marionette, or string puppet as Pulcinello or Punch, but by the 19th century Punch was more usually a glove puppet, performed in a portable booth by one performer who had a character on each hand.
Punch became a popular character in Britain by the 19th century, when images of Punch and Judy were used as decorative motifs on a range of household items. In 1841 the magazine Punch, or the London Charivari was established, named after the comic and anarchic character of Mr. Punch whose image appeared on its cover.
Punch became a popular character in Britain by the 19th century, when images of Punch and Judy were used as decorative motifs on a range of household items. In 1841 the magazine Punch, or the London Charivari was established, named after the comic and anarchic character of Mr. Punch whose image appeared on its cover.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Baby's rattle, with an image of Mr Punch |
| Physical description | Baby's rattle wiith a mother-of-pearl handle, the head of Mr Punch in metal, flanked by two small rattles on either side |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Tom Howard |
| Object history | This object, two Chinese puppets and a collection of Punch and Judy memorabilia (S.210 to S.225-1998) were bequeathed to the Museum by Tom Howard (1904-1997), Archivist and Council Member of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This baby's rattle features the silver head of the puppet character Mr. Punch from a traditional Punch and Judy show. Punch and Judy shows are a feature of British seaside entertainment whose history in Great Britain stretches back to the puppet show that Samuel Pepys noted seeing in Covent Garden on 9 May 1662 performed by the Italian puppeteer Signor Bologna. This included a marionette, or string puppet as Pulcinello or Punch, but by the 19th century Punch was more usually a glove puppet, performed in a portable booth by one performer who had a character on each hand. Punch became a popular character in Britain by the 19th century, when images of Punch and Judy were used as decorative motifs on a range of household items. In 1841 the magazine Punch, or the London Charivari was established, named after the comic and anarchic character of Mr. Punch whose image appeared on its cover. |
| Associated object | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.219-1998 |
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| Record created | October 7, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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