The Nohant Puppets

George Sand’s house in Nohant still houses Maurice Sand’s (1823–1889) puppet theatre, complete with all its original stage equipment. First appearing in 1847, behind the back of a chair, the earliest performances were staged in temporary structures set up in the drawing room before moving to a permanent stage installed in a vaulted room on the ground floor of the house. This stage features an opening flanked by two pilasters surmounted by Corinthian capitals, which support a richly ornamented entablature. At the base, a central cartouche bears the date 1847, the year the theatre was founded. The stage frame conceals the scenery machinery, comprising five successive levels, and a workbench with drawers for storing props.

The puppets are positioned in the stage well using crossbars with sliders, which allow for a large number of characters to be used whilst limiting the number of puppeteers. These are wooden planks that serve both as supports and as a false floor, consisting of two grooves in which small, perforated wooden squares slide. Thus, it is possible to place a puppet on its metal rod in each square; the lower part of the rod is fitted with pegs for securing it in place.

The puppets form a gallery of portraits that cater to the needs of various repertoires. Peasants, townspeople, merchants, legal professionals, soldiers, artists, devils, hybrid or mythological beings are all figures that embody a specific social status or a fictional imagination. The troupe constitutes a representative sample of the human race, in which every character trait must be discernible. Particular attention is therefore paid to the hands and heads, which define the characters. The heads, carved from lime wood before being painted, are fitted with natural hair, whilst the eyes are made of enamel or varnished nails to give the figures’ expressions greater impact.

Most of the puppets are glove puppets, worn on the puppeteer’s hand, who controls the head and arms with his fingers, allowing for a great deal of freedom of movement. Among all the characters conceived by Maurice Sand, Balandard stands out as the troupe’s director and a self-portrait of his creator.

The remarkable diversity of the characters is complemented by an extensive wardrobe, which contributes to the puppet’s identity whilst lending it a tangible presence. The costumes were the result of a collaboration between Maurice Sand and his mother, who sewed the small garments from scraps of fabric according to the designs drawn by her son.

This unique and perfectly preserved collection spans nearly half a century of creative output (1847–1889). Its richness brings to life the ceaselessly inventive spirit of this theatre, whose playwriting and staging reveal a magical and sensory world.

Michèle Perrot, George Sand at Nohant, Seuil, 2018.

George Sand, ‘The Nohant Puppet Theatre’, Autobiographical Works, text introduced by George Lubin, Gallimard, 1971 (volume 2, page 1249).

Bertrand Tillier, *Maurice Sand, Puppeteer, or The ‘Little Pleasures’ of a Famous Mother*, Du Lérot, 1992.