Poster, Bread and Puppet Theatre, Switzerland, 1973
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1973
The large puppet depicted on this poster represents The Virgin Mary, a sorrowing mother puppet who frequently appeared in their work as a Grey Lady. This poster possibly advertised the circus in 1973 when the donor John Casson was working with them on the summer circus at Cate Farm, Vermont, making masks and puppets.
In 1975 the Company moved to Glover where the landscape provided them with a natural amphitheatre in an old gravel pit allowing them to perform large scale outdoor productions without amplification. Their vast and moving spectacles resulted in huge crowds gathering annually, but after 1998 the Circus was succeeded by a summer programme and touring productions addressing issues of the day, and still featuring their astonishing and moving sculptural creations. Poster for Bread and Puppet Theatre circus festival, Our Domestic Resurrection, Cate Farm, Vermont.
The poster depicts a large puppet, possibly the Madonna, and another puppet holding a banner of the type printed by the company, illustrated with a skeleton.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Printed ink on card
- Dimensions
- Height: 48 cm; Width: 34.2 cm
Technical characteristics
- Maker recorded
- Bread and Puppet Theatre Company; Bread and Puppet Theater Company
- Place recorded
- Switzerland
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O1302471
- Museum object name
- Poster
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- S.14-2015
- Museum system number
- O1302471
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.