Marionette, Princess Dancing Bear
date: label: Date made
content: 1935 - 1955
name: label: maker
content: Paris, Frank
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Princess Dancing Bear was created by puppeteer Frank Paris, who performed with the marionette in shows for adult audiences that were staged in American theaters and nightclubs during the 1930s through the 1950s. The marionette, which stands nearly three feet tall, has the statuesque torso of a chorus girl or an exotic dancer, and is costumed in an abbreviated costume of halter and panties decorated with white feathers and silver sequins. Its face is equipped with high, sloping cheekbones and a smoldering, sloe-eyed stare worthy of a Marlene Dietrich. Two long black braids, made of strands of fringe, are crowned with a detachable, top-to-toe headdress of white feathers, silver sequins, and glass beads. Its long legs are joined to feet which sport white and silver slippers. The puppet has a beaded headband inscribed with Paris’s name. The overall effect of the marionette evokes a visual impression that combines ethnic stereotype and exotic sensuality and is the embodiment of the puppeteer’s characteristically sophisticated style, which one critic has deemed “the Paris Label.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, Los Angeles, North Hollywood
topic: label: general subject association
content: Puppetry
label: Subject
content: Dancers
label: Subject
content: Television broadcasts
label: Subject
content: Nightclubs
label: general subject association
content: Television
label: Subject
content: Native Americans
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Puppets
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1980.0352.01
label: accession number
content: 1980.0352
label: catalog number
content: 1980.0352.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Puppet
label: Object Name
content: puppet
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: feathers (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 in x 10 in; 86.36 cm x 25.4 cm