Donated to the Guild Archive by founder Harry Whanslaw, the disjointing juggling clown originally belonged to the Archibald Troupe of marionettes. Whanslaw and Waldo Lanchester first learned of the troupe during one of their London Marionette Theatre advertising shows at the Crystal Palace, when a woman in the audience informed them that a collection of marionettes was being sold at a local auction that very afternoon. As they were due to perform, they sent their assistant, Kenneth Clarke, to bid on their behalf. He arrived just as the puppets were being brought to the auction block and succeeded in securing them.
The troupe comprised of around a dozen marionettes, including a skeleton, a small boy, a girl, a concertina player, an Indian juggler, a pair of dancers, the Grand Turk, and several other figures. Upon closer examination, Whanslaw observed that the puppets appeared to be of a more commercial type, likely produced by a maker supplying puppeteers, rather than crafted for a specific company’s performances. His assessment has since been borne out, as many similar puppets have surfaced on the market in subsequent years.
