Original Cabinet Card - Doll Kid on String

Little Percival “Pip” Featherbee was not like the other boys. For starters, he creaked when he walked and had no discernible joints. This made hopscotch difficult but gave him a distinct advantage at dramatic reveals and surprise birthday parties.

No one quite remembers when Pip arrived in Fresno—some say he wandered in from an abandoned carousel, others claim he was gifted to the town by a vengeful toymaker in exchange for a bushel of peaches and a blood oath. What is known is that Pip never spoke… but the string did. If you tugged it just right, it whispered secrets. Odd ones. Like where your missing socks went, or who really wrote your grandmother’s memoir.

Eventually, Pip was placed in the town square as a polite warning to traveling puppets and overly bold magicians. To this day, his head still swivels to follow anyone carrying scissors.

Colin Batty is an artist from Manchester, UK. He has worked on countless cool projects including Tim Burton's, Mars Attacks, the Oscar nominated short, The Sandman, Eddie Murphy's, The PJ's and many, many more. Colin has contributed to Freakybuttrue for many years and graces this site with his amazing designs, incredible sculptures, comics and his world famous cabinet card paintings and so much more.

Each original cabinet card is a genuine one hundred year old (or more) photograph on which Colin directly paints. Photographs of this age are often creased, scratched, deteriorated, and otherwise worn. Colin often utilizes the character of the wear to find inspiration.

Each card is signed and dated by the artist.

High quality prints of this original can be purchased here.