This marionette ranks among my favorite finds ever, and feels a lot like my favorite sort of 19th century naive schoolgirl watercolor come to life! And look at those unmatched socks, one gray and one yellow, with black painted shoes that just peek out below the belly of the mule (I assume) on the reverse side. The manner of the figure, and face particularly, makes me think late 19th century or so, and it seems possible the figure (which I first took for a girl) is meant to represent Don Quixote, though I'm not entirely sure. In any case, really wonderful from top to bottom and end to end, with beautifully aged old wood and paint, all of the joints still pinned and moving, and those amazing long legs and tail!
The only challenge about it is that nearly all of what I believe are the original strings are still attached, which required some patient untangling, and are not 100% resolved (though fairly close; there are a just a few that still criss-cross just before they meet the wood panel to which they attach. ) It could be hung from the panel just as it is, hanging down, by just resting the panel horizontally on a couple of nails. Or of course one could clip the strings if desired.
12 1/4" tall, not including string or panel x about 10 1/2" long; about 9 inches from top of figure's head to end of strings. Panel is 10" x 2 5/8". One small well done repair to one arm, hard to notice. Wonderfully aged condition and structurally sound, with all parts moving when one pulls on the right string!
