by Chris » 02 Feb 2009, 22:10
I would imagine wooden heads have endured because people have kept them. But papie mache objects - the chinese work you mentioned - have lasted far far longer than any Punch heads.
But things don't last in historical terms because of their strength or durability - they last because people keep and cherish them and usually because they are beautiful. Puppets tend not to survive since most have little intrinsic worth without the performer to bring them to life. Thus the only puppets that survive are those passed to another puppeteer.
But of course wood does have advantages over papie mache. Firstly it is an easier process with a material more readily available. Imagine an old itinerant street performer who has no access to a workshop. It is quite feasible that he finds a piece of wood (driftwood - hedgerow - sawmill) which he can whittle with his pocket knife in between shows. He can do a bit as he when he has the opportunity. Contrast this with having to first find some kind of modelling clay, the correct kind of paper and glue, and having to complete a process once started. Then there's the long process of drying. Mind you, the late Arnold Crowther did manage to create wonderful papie mache figures with no tools and everything done in the dressing room between shows. He had a technique all his own.
Also for papie mache to be strong it does need to be made using correct techniques. The chinese perfected their methods over hundreds of years. Wood is a lot more forgiving in that it retains its natural strength. Also, and very important in a puppet show where part of the action is to hit the heads, wooden heads are easier to repair when broken. You can nail a separated wooden nose back in position. A papie mache nose would be less likely to snap off but if it did a repair would not be as easily achieved.
A further advantage of wood is the sound it makes - wooden heads hitting together or hitting the playboard are part of the music of the Punch show.
But you are quite wrong to think that papie mache puppets don't survive - a lot of Quisto's and Tickner's papie mache work survives - and what of the great vent figures? One wonders whether the wooden Hancock/Kent Punch would fetch as much as the papie mache Archie Andrews?
But the real reason that most people use wooden Punch figures is because they are available. Most Punchmen today are, unlike most puppeteers, not craftsmen. Most puppeteers tend to make their own puppets whereas most Punchmen buy them. So instead of experimenting and trying other materials which might, or might not, prove superior to wood, they buy what they can buy and justify it in the name of tradition.
P.S. A further disadvantage of papie mache, apparently, is that it is much enjoyed by rats. According to a correspondent on our sister message board on the Guild website a complete set of her puppets were devoured by the rats which she houses in her attic. She didn't mention other rodents. I know John likes papie mache but I don't suppose he eats it.
It's good to squawk!