19th Century Sicilian Italian Marionette Folk Art Puppet Opera dei Pupi

A Mendi 'Compensation' or 'Revenge' Doll, traditionally made with pandanus leaves, bilum string, shells, wood, seeds and objets trouve with pigments. These dolls represent individua...

A charming collection of hand crafted puppets by John Carr, (William & His Turnips) depicting a scare crow, a gardener with a hoe and 12 turnips. Develope...

A rare hand carved 19th century artists lay figure foot, with traces of its original painted surface. This would have been part of a full size mannequin with a ball joint in the heal...

A large carved and polychrome painted tobacconist's figure almost certainly 17th or early 18th century For a related example see Edward H. Pinto, Treen and other Wooden Bygones, Bell and Hyman, London 1969. Page 412, plate 436. Originally this may well have been a tobacconist's shop window figure. For a similar, but slightly earlier unpainted example, see Sotheby's, The W. J. Shepherd collection of treen, 30th November 1983, Lot 393, illustrated in Pinto "Wooden Bygones of Smoking and Snuff Taking", plate 1. Carved wooden figures, often painted, were placed outside tobacconist's shops as signs from the 17th century onwards. The earliest of these figures is the 'black boy' or 'blackamoor'. 'At the sign of the black boy' or 'at the sign of the blackamoor' was a popular address for tobacconists since the early 17th century. The 17th century figures...

Antique Sicilian Opera dei Pupi Theater Marionette, ca. 1930s A large Sicilian theater (Opera dei Pupi) marionette, which is made of tin, wood and canvas ca. 1930s. The Sicilian Pu...

19th Century Italian / Sicilian Large Hand-Crafted Puppet Marionette In the rare form of an Arabic clothed gentle with long turned up moustache. The head, hands and feet are all h...

We found this wonderful 19th century French marionette in Rouen France. The puppet, and its art form, have been a mainstay of French cultural life f...

A wonderful work complete with a unique wood-carved and hand painted face, a wonderfully fabulous hairdo, and an original textile garment. From a group of 7 Chinese opera puppets, we acquired from a collector. Each puppet shows clear signs of previous stage use. Clearly original works. Likely from the early 1900s. Would make for a great addition to any Chinese artifacts...