Ken Spencer's Ventriloquist Figure Body

All of the golden era ventriloquist figure builders had their own style body and Ken Spencer was no exception. As a matter of fact Ken’s body was one of the best. It was built like a Sherman Tank comparing it to something of the period.

His body was 13″ tall and the shoulder board itself is 2 inches thick. He made them this thick to accommodate his V shaped socket and neck. The inside of the shoulder board is hand carved out on the underside making a bowl shape.

The body is 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep. His side support boards are actually 1/2 inch thick and then hand carved out to give them a curved shape on the inside. The bottom board is also hand carved and dished out.

The whole front of the body is done with a shaped wooden panel and then the outside of the panel is covered with muslin. The lower inside of the body is supported by a hand carved C shaped brace which is both nailed and glued to the shaped vertical body board.

The arms and legs are attached with both staples and nails and the stuffing in both the arms and legs is straw.

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I can tell you that these bodies are as solid a body as you will ever see on a ventriloquist figure.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger

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One Response to Ken Spencer's Ventriloquist Figure Body

  1. Philip Grecian says:

    I believe that’s the sturdiest figure body I’ve ever seen.
    Meaning no disrespect to Mr. Spencer, is it, in your opinion, overbuilt?
    The hollowing out internally is clearly an attempt to take some weight away, but it looks like it would still be awfully heavy. Is it?

    Of course, art is what the artist feels is necessary to make the statement, and you’ve got to admire Ken Spencer for all of the extra work it took him to make that particular statement, eh?

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