Summary

Hand made marionette depicting a pirate captain. 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 pirate captain, who is wearing a long, shiny, green jacket with yellow trim. The jacket is buttoned around the collar and then hangs open. There are four black and gold buttons on each side of the jacket and two in the middle of his back (which have rusted and discoloured the surrounding fabric). Underneath the jacket is a patterned vest and black vinyl belt. The pirate captain has high waisted, red pants, which have been made to look as though they have been tucked into his boots. His black boots have been painted on and then has a piece of black vinyl wrapped around the top where the boots and pants meet. His felt soles are very dirty. The pirate captain's peach hands are a completely different colour to his face, which is a dark red/orange colour. Attached to his right-hand palm is a small piece of leather, which may have once held a sword. His face is quite damaged with some significant chips and a deep crack on the side of his face. He has plastic green eyes with black pupils. His black hair remains largely intact although it is starting to disintegrate noticeably. He wears a triangular black pirate's hat which is starting to fall apart. This marionette has a three piece mechanism. There are operating strings attached to numerous parts of him, including his head, limbs and shoulders. The feet have been weighted

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