Chinese shadow puppets
Hubei province, China
Made about 1850-1950
These shadow puppets are made of donkey hide
and are in the form of a sedan chair with bearers. Wealthy Chinese
people would have used these chairs to travel around in.
Shadow plays are a theatrical tradition in
many Asian countries where puppets are manipulated behind an
illuminated screen. Most of the plays presented were adapted from
popular stories, plays or folktales.
Musicians accompanied the performance with
stringed and wind instruments, gongs, drums and cymbals. The
puppets movements, singing and dialogue were all exaggerated.