marionette

Female marionette with an earthenware head, which is hollow, and earthenware forearms and legs. The figure wears an indigo dyed cloth shirt and leggings, with a light blue pattern-woven apron, plain white under tunic, and red tunic with black trimmings. There are circular badges on the front and back of the tunic, each inscribed with the same Chinese characters “親勇, qīn yǒng”, meaning literally ‘kind’ and ‘brave’, epithets which would be appropriarte for a soldier or bodygurad in a government office in feudal China. The tunic is fastened in the front by white glass beads. The figure carries two daggers and a short spear in a blue belt around the waist. The clothing is inconsistent, some male and some female, suggesting that the puppet was played with. The back of the head is missing and some fingers are damaged.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
29.8.67/3
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 240 mm x 165 mm x 34 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
earthenware; textile; glass; paint
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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Collection Information

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