John Cheere specialized in the production of garden statues in lead and ran a celebrated sculpture yard at Hyde Park Corner in London. This rare figure of Mr. Punch reflects the enduring popularity of the marionette theater shows at Covent Garden, London, where showman and puppeteer Martin Powell adapted the traditional Neapolitan commedia dell’arte for London audiences. Powell’s entertainments were popular parodies of the elite taste for grand Italian opere serie (tragic operas) then being composed in London by George Frideric Handel and his rival Giovanni Bononcini. Powell’s Punch was a disruptive, satirical figure who was used to lampoon prominent contemporaries. He would eventually evolve into the Mr. Punch familiar from the Victorian Punch and Judy show. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
