In China puppet theatre has always vividly reflected societal and cultural values with beautifully carved puppets, music, drama, and eloquent language, costumes and adornment while assuming a major role in religious rituals and honoring major life and historical events. Puppetry using rod, string, glove and shadow puppets, reached its height in the Qing dynasty when it became closely associated with local opera forms. Story plots include history, religious and supernatural events, deities and legends, romances and even courtroom cases accompanied by flutes and drums Although Chinese puppetry diminished after the Cultural Revolution, traditional puppet theatre is still performed by private and state sponsored professional and amateur companies in rural and urban areas with Chinese and Taiwanese government support in recent decades to preserve puppets and theatrical performances.
Of the many types of puppets, our collection soon will include marionettes, puppet heads, stick, rod and shadow puppets, primarily from Indonesia and China.
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Puppet theater has always vividly reflected Chinese society and culture and educated both the literate and illiterate public using with beautifully carved and attired puppets, music, drama,, eloquent language, costumes, and adornment. It also assumed a major role by performing religious rituals and honoring major historical characters and events. Using rods, strings, gloves and a…
Puppet theatre has traditionally assumed a major role in Chinese religious rituals and honoring major life and historical events. Local productions with beautifully carved puppets, music, drama and costumes instilled societal and cultural values as well as providing entertainment to audiences of all ages and educating provincial ones. This head has a typical tapering shaft…
This lovely carving is likely the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) and may be a puppet head or an attachment to a larger figure. Xiwangmu is the most important female deity in the Taoist pantheon generally identified by a single phoenix in her headdress. The unique headdress here has three phoenixes instead of her…
This doll of a Chinese official as part of a Chinese opera has a unique gold and silver thread stitched and sequined design circling a series of triangular mountains topped by only traditionally shaped clouds, generally not on an official’s robe. In many cultures, dolls were used as children’s entertainment and as didactic tools to…
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