Gnafron
Gnafron is a hand puppet created in Lyon by the French puppeteer Laurent Mourguet at the beginning of the 19th century .
Characteristic
As a shoemaker and philosopher, the character Gnafron always has good advice on his lips and slows his friend Guignol in his zeal and zest for action, but also loves to celebrate with him. He is a lover of Beaujolais wine and is traditionally depicted with a badly shaved beard, red nose and red cheeks, as well as toothless, with a brimmed hat or cap, a scarf as a tie or a bow tie with checks or dots and a leather apron. In some pieces of the classical repertoire he is also the father of Madelon , whom Laurent Mourguet invented as a woman for Guignol.
origin
At the beginning of the 19th century, the silk industry in Lyon was in crisis. The former silk weaver Laurent Mourguet was forced to earn his living in a wide variety of activities due to his unemployment and worked as a tooth puller in 1797. He lured his customers with the hand puppets Pulcinella , Colombina and Harlequin and played short scenes with them. In this way, he not only distracted his patients from the pain of the treatment, but also spared his future customers the fear of visiting him.
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His success encouraged him to quit his job as a tooth puller and began a career as a puppet player. He was accompanied by Grégoire Lambert Ladret (also called father Thomas), a shoemaker, street performer and violin player who was a hand puppeteer in Paris . Mourguet adopted this technique, which was simpler than manipulating jointed dolls attached to threads. As a result of a dispute, the two companions parted ways, whereupon Laurent Mourguet, inspired by his former friend, replaced the character Pulcinella with an authentic canut (silk weaver), to whom he named Gnafron ( gnafron means cobbler in the Lyons dialect). Gnafron is the first hand puppet figure created by Laurent Mourguet in 1804.
The first known version of the figure of Gnafron is on display at the Museum of Puppetry (Musée des arts de la marionnette, Musée Gadagne ) in Lyon.
Gnafron has also been venerated by winemakers since 1931, when a statue was erected in his honor in Beaujeu , the capital of Beaujolais.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gérald Dardart: Gnafron, la première puppet lyon est originaire des Ardennes. In: Carolo likes. Ville de Charleville-mézières, January 2009, accessed December 17, 2018 (French).
- ↑ Guignol. Retrieved December 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Musée des arts de la Marionnette, fiche passeport Guignol
- ↑ Histoire de Guignol. Retrieved December 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Le Pere la Grolle - History. Retrieved December 17, 2018 .