Javanese shadow puppet

PART OF:
The Kodak Museum Collection

Shadow puppet; gilded; painted; perforated leather with split bamboo support (repaired); operating rods. Possibly of the figure of Hanuman.

Shadow plays (Wayang Kulit), which may be regarded as an extremely early precursor of cinema, originated in Java and India some thousands of years ago. These thin leather puppets are intricately perforated and painted and depict figures in folklore. This puppet depicts Hanuman from the Hindu text Mahabharata. The puppets are manipulated by rods either in deylight or in front of a translucent screen, lit from behind so that the puppet is seen in silhouette.

Details

Category:
Cinematography
Collection:
Kodak Collection
Object Number:
1990-5036/7159
type:
puppet
credit:
The Kodak Collection at the National Media Museum, Bradford