For hundreds of years puppets have been used to act out stories by adults and children across many different cultures. Similarly, printed toy theatres have enabled children to act out popular plays of the time or even make up their own stories and scenery.
The Museum’s puppet collection includes beautiful examples from around the world including Javanese shadow puppets, Italian marionettes, an original Punch and Judy booth and Japanese Bunraku figures. Other examples include toy versions of popular television characters such as Muffin the Mule, Kermit the Frog and an Archie Andrews ventriloquist doll.
String puppets
String puppets or marionettes have complete bodies and jointed limbs, with carved or moulded heads.
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Shadow puppets
Shadow puppets are jointed figures operated from below using rods made from wire or wood.
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Toy theatres
The toy theatre pictured is known as the Trentsensky Theatre because some of the scenes used were made by this famous company.
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Muffin the Mule
Muffin the Mule was the first great star of children's television in Britain, and made his television debut as a puppet in 1946 with Annette Mills.
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The V&A online shop stocks a distinctive and refreshingly different range for children, big and little, then and now, including toys, games, books and accessories.
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