Antique, Wooden Puppet Heads with Articulated Tongues and glass eyes.

Antique, Wooden Puppet Heads with Articulated Tongues and glass eyes.

Burma early 1900s

Size 13 cm H x 11 cm diameter

Made from one piece of teak these large life sized rustic antique carved puppets’ heads, with their articulated tongue mechanisms are certainly eye-catching. With strong remnants of original paint and expressive features they are full of decorative appeal.

History ~
Early 1900s, Burma (Myanmar).

The puppets would originally have had strings from which it was manipulated, during the puppet performance (which was known as Yoke thé). The shows were similar to Burmese operas and involved music and dances, originally drawing on themes from historic legends and tales about buddhas.

Yoke thé started around 1780, under the reign of Singu Min and from their inception were very popular in the courts of royal dynasties and were soon also adopted by the general population. This remained the case until the British conquered Upper Burma during the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, which caused the demise of this art form, (although currently it is enjoying a revival).

Puppetry has long been a means of raising and alluding to political and domestic issues and of conveying political satire. Often the themes chosen for the shows would convey hidden meaning – reprimands, warnings and expressions of discontent which it would otherwise not have been possible to express openly.