This qualifying paper examines the possibilities for the conservation and treatment of a cow character marionette that is estimated to be one hundred years old.

The marionette was purchased by its present owner, Sharon Lerner, in the mid to late 1970’s in New England. Though her true provenance is unknown, legend has associated the cow marionette with Tony Sarg and his traveling marionette company. Sarg was a noted commercial artist and personality and his puppet troupe was a popular entertainment during the 1920s and 30s.

The cow marionette is a mixed media object. In puppetry, she would be described as a junk body marionette. The cow’s understructure is intact and rigid while the visible surface coverings of leather and hide and painted surfaces are fragile and deteriorated. As with any object where multiple materials are assembled to make a whole, there are inherent conservation problems to be solved.

Research draws from published articles and book excerpts highlighting the marionette’s history, methods and materials used by artists and puppet makers of the early to mid 1900’s with the intention that this information will be useful in implementing a conservation project using contemporary conservation methods and artist’s supplies.