Hurvinek - a Czech puppet

Hurvinek has a very special place in his family’s heart because he was purchased in Prague on a trip to bring home their adopted child in the early 2000s. After a couple of decades he was starting to look a little tired, with chipped paint, broken hands and a missing foot. His clothing was also faded and stained and in need of some tlc.

Hurvinek is a popular marionette in Czechia, along with his father, the schoolmaster Spejbl - and there is a theatre named after them in Prague. They also appeared in several tv shows and films. Hurvinek is dressed in a white shirt with big collar and wide sleeves, dark coloured britches and a pair of felt braces, white painted on stockings and black boots. He has characteristic light curly hair and big eyes and ears! The control is somewhat different to the Pelham Puppets, with a rigid wire going up to a simple wooden control.

His clothing was removed and gently cleaned by hand, repairing where necessary. His trousers had faded somewhat at the front so the colour was refreshed to bring them back to their original blue-black.

The most serious damage was to the hands and foot. The main body of the marionette is wood, but the limbs and head are made from a brittle plaster/resin mix. The hands had been repaired previously a couple of times and one had broken again at the wrist. One of the feet was missing entirely, so Ian carved him a new one from limewood which was painted up to match the existing foot.

All of the chipped paint was sympathetically matched in with professional grade oil paint by Katie, so his hands and ears and nose are now fairly seamless.

Finally he was re-constructed, re-dressed and re-strung - able to dance, wave and walk again.

Working on him brought its challenges but it was certainly a fun adventure!

Please visit our Pelham Puppet repair page for more details of how you can get your own precious puppet restored or mended by us.