Ballet Dancer Marionette
date: label: Date made
content: 1940
name: label: user
content: Revlon
label: maker
content: Patton, Roy E.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Created by Roy Patton in 1940, this lovely hand carved and painted marionette was used to advertise Revlon cosmetics in a major department store in New York City. She is dressed in what was once an elegant silk dress adorned with flowers and sequins with tiny ballet slippers on her feet. She is operated with an airplane control and nine strings.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In the early 1940s, Revlon, a major cosmetic company, employed the use of this glamorous marionette to promote its product line at a major department store on Fifth Ave in New York City. Set against a black back drop, the female puppeteer was clothed entirely in black with just her hands and face unveiled. As the marionette danced across the store window, the audience saw only the beautifully manicured nail polish and the newest lip stick color on the puppeteer as she worked the marionette.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Roy Patton's interest in puppets began at an early age. Raised as Quakers , he and his brother Harry were taught Bible stories through puppet shows that were staged in the community. Both Roy and Harry were drawn to puppetry and became interested in creating puppets and constructing stage settings. In 1934 Roy joined the Tatterman Marionette Company and became a master carver. Roy followed a few years later as a puppeteer and set designer.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Puppetry
label: Subject
content: Consumerism
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Puppets
label: See more items in
content: Advertising
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Harry J. Patton
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.0059.01
label: accession number
content: 1981.0059
label: catalog number
content: 1981.0059.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: puppet
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: string (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 1/2 in x 6 in; 36.83 cm x 15.24 cm