Collection / Asia
- China
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Stick puppet of the opera „The White Serpent“, about 1950. This puppet represents a strong and pugnacious woman accompanying and protecting the „white serpent“. The opera „The White Serpent“ after an old legend is one of the most popular Chinese puppet operas.
- Japan
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Head of a clown, stick puppet, late 19th century. Movable eyes and mouth. This is a typical puppet of the bunraku theatre in which each puppet is operated by three puppeteers. The dialogues are accompanied by music. Whereas the main puppeteer visibly moves the puppet’s head and right arm, his two assistants wear black garments and are thus invisible against a dark background.
- Iran
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Club swinger, marionette, early 20th century. Puppets of this kind are mainly used in vaudeville scenes at the beginning and end of theatre performances.
- India
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Marionette of Sita, a female figure of the Ramayana epic, about 1850. Movable head, arms, and legs. Sita represents a strong woman who finally leaves Rama, her divine spouse. The puppet was made of wood and has often been newly painted and clad.
- Turkey
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Shadow figures, early 20th century. The puppets are made of camel hide. Theatre performances usually start and end with dialogues of the most important characters of the Turkish puppet theatre: Karagöz and Hacivad. The impudent and often obscene Karagöz plays are, above all, shown at great family banquets and in coffee-houses each night during Ramadan, when Muslims fast in the hours of daylight. - In this scene some high-ranking person (as can be seen from the typical head-gear) seems to meet a subordinate. In Turkey the puppet theatre often has the function of a social critic.