Martin the Woodcutter Marionette
date: label: Date made
content: 1930 - 1934
name: label: user
content: Cordry, Donald
label: maker
content: Cordry, Donald
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Martin the Woodcutter is one of five marionettes created by Donald Cordry for his performance of <i>The Three Wishes</i> which played in Minneapolis between 1931-1934. The play is an old world folk tale that includes a wood-chopper, his wife, a nosy neighbor, and a green fairy. The fairy grants the couple three wishes but instead of finding happiness they lose everything through their own ill found greed. Martin is hand carved from wood with an elongated forehead and prominent bumps on his nose and wears a plaid shirt under a brown vest, corduroy pants, and knee high boots. His facial features are well defined and painted with great detail. He is operated with an airplane holder with six strings.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Donald Cordry (1907-1978) was a well known and highly respected American artist, craftsman, and puppeteer of the 1920s and '30s. He was gifted with a great decorative sense and his craftsmanship was extraordinary. Born in Minnesota, Cordry attended the Minneapolis School of Art from 1924-1929 and after graduation he went to work for the Board of Education. While his main job was to lecture and teach classes, Cordry used the opportunity to create and perform his own puppet show with both hand puppets and marionettes. From late 1930 to early 1931 Cordry joined the Rufus Rose Company, owned by Rupert and Margo Rose that played the school and college circuit on the East coast.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In the summer of 1931 he traveled to Mexico where he developed a lifelong interest and dedication to the arts and landscape of Mexico. An avid collector of ethnographic material for over 40 years, Cordry amassed a large collection of indigenous Mexican arts and crafts which he meticulously documented and researched. His passion also included Native American cultures, and in the mid 1930s he worked at the Heye Museum of Indian Art in New York City where he cataloged and researched objects for the museum.
label: Description (Brief)
content: After returning to Minneapolis in late 1931, Cordry started creating his own puppets. He formed his own company and performed shows until 1934. <i>The Dolly Sisters</i> and <i>The Three Wishes</i> were popular with young and old audiences alike.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In June of 1934, Cordry moved to New York and worked with Tony Sarg, a well known and established puppeteer in his own right, and taught classes at Sarg's Summer School. Cordry made a number of puppets for Sarg and toured with his company from 1934-1936.
label: Description (Brief)
content: By 1937, poor health forced him to give up puppetry and he moved to Mexico. He did, however, continue his field research on indigenous peoples and later published two books: <i>Mexican Indian Costumes</i> (1968) and <i>Mexican Masks</i> (c 1980). <i>The Three Wishes</i> was Cordry's final production before he moved to Mexico with his wife.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Associated Place
content: United States: New York, New York
topic: label: used
content: Puppetry
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Puppets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Dorothy Mann Cordry in memory of Donald Cordry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0238.063
label: accession number
content: 1982.0238
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0238.063
objectType: label: Object Name
content: puppet
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 24 in x 7 in; 60.96 cm x 17.78 cm