Wayang Golek Indonesian Stick Puppet Wood Handcrafted

Description

Wayang Golek Indonesian Wood Puppet
"The wayang puppet theatre is the oldest continuously performed theatrical form among the many genres of performing art in Indonesia. While wayang theatre has a fixed structure, creativity and improvisation play a major role in the way the dalang puppet master shapes a performance.
The dalang’s creativity serves as the ‘soul’ of wayang and has successfully been responsible for transmitting cultural traditions as well as reflecting contemporary social and political issues from one generation to another.
Wayang Golek are three-dimensional wooden rod puppets that are operated from below by a wooden rod that runs through the body to the head, and by sticks connected to the hands.
It is for a presentation in the traditional Indonesian puppet theater
The head of the puppet is the most intricately carved section.
The dress on the puppet is handmade from the textile called batik.
The arms are carved into two sections: shoulder to elbow, and hand to elbow, so the body can turn and the arms can move around when the puppeteer plays.
Refined characters have faces in light color, the head is slightly bowed. The bad ones usually would have darker red faces and arrogant appearance
".
The puppet measures 25" high from the tip of head to the bottom hem of garment and 18.5" from the tip of head to the bottom of the rod.
Circa first half of the 20th century.
It is hand carved from wood, painted and lacquered.
He wears a long batik sarong. There are beads and ribbons.
The rod as a tag glued "Topeng" which means mask.
Good used condition, all original. Minor paint losses. the fabric has some holes and a musty smell. There are some chips and missing paint spots.
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