December 24, 2023
by Sheridan Sansegundo
My puppets are inspired by medieval European jumping jack toys.
In France, where they are known as pantins, they became a collecting craze among the nobility in the 18th century and the bon ton would carry them as fashionable accessories. Some were sold for extraordinary prices. The Duchess of Chartres once gave 1,500 livres (pounds) for one painted by Francois Boucher.
*
*
In Germany they are Hamplemann, in Portugal they are called mané gostoso, in Arizona and New Mexico there is a Hopi variant, and similar toys date back to the Ancient Egyptians.
*
*
In England they were known as quockerwodgers, and the word eventually became a derogatory term for a corrupt politician whose strings were being pulled by some other person or faction. Perhaps the word should be revived?
*
*
I first made smaller versions of the puppets, but they are now nearly life size. Their costumes are celebratory, an armor of fancy, but their minds are elsewhere.
**************
Sheridan Sansegundo is a newspaper woman. English, having lived in Spain for many years, she then moved to the US where she was a writer and arts editor of The East Hampton Star (NY) for many years before retiring to San Miguel.
**************
*****
Please contribute to Lokkal,
SMA's online collective:
***
Discover Lokkal:
Watch the two-minute video below.
Then, just below that, scroll down SMA's Community Wall.
Mission
Visit SMA's Social Network
Contact / Contactar
