This crazy face! How not to love??!!
I don't know much about the origins of this vintage handmade painted papier mache and cloth Punch doll/puppet, but I sure wish I'd had him when I was a kid doing puppet shows, as he would have made a great protagonist--or antagonist--in many a drama. Punch and Judy has roots in 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte, in which Punch (Punchinello) was the trickster figure or "lord of misrule"--which this puppet surely conveys. I especially love his long red-tipped nose, exuberant stubble, and gnarly, yellowing teeth...what a character!
The puppet measures 12" tall by 3" wide and deep. There is a bit of wear to the face, loss of paint in a few spots, and a little fraying of his red wool scarf.
