Summary

Hand made marionette depicting a female gypsy. It was manufactured and operated in Melbourne by Alex and Murray Smith, who performed as part of Le Forgeron Marionettes from 1930 until 1956.

Physical Description

Marionette depicting a female gypsy, who wears a long sleeved cream blouse (which has some holes in the sleeves) with dark green, velour vest which has gold sequin decoration. She has a striped sash (red, turquoise, beige, brown and mauve) around her waist which is frayed at the end. Her skirt is red with brown, green, yellow, pink and cream floral design. It has a large split (intentional) that reaches her hip. Underneath this she wears yellow pants. Her ankles have been painted a pinky-orange colour which does not match the rest of her skin which is dark olive. Her painted on shoes are a pale green and her felt soles are in good condition. She wears wooden beads around her neck which have been painted in faded metallic colours. The gypsy has dark brown hair which is starting to disintegrate. Her face is in quite good condition although there are some chips/flaking of the paintwork under her chin and on her forehead. There are operating strings attached to numerous parts of her, including her head, limbs and shoulders. The feet have been weighted

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