Group of 106 Shadow Puppets
CultureChinese
Date18th century
MediumDonkey skin, paint, varnish
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number46-59.1-63
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionPuppet group consists of 48 bodies, 49 heads, and 9 pieces of furniture. Puppets are flat strips of donkey skin, cut in the shape of various characters from the Chinese Drama. They are transparent and painted and varnished on each side. In the performance, the figures are held against the back side of a thin white screen, lit from behind, causing a strong shadow to be visible from the front of the screen.ProvenanceHarry S. Aldrich (1895-1979), Manhattan, KS, by 1938-1946 [1];
Purchased from Aldrich by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1946.
NOTES:
[1] Lt. Harry S. Aldrich (later Col. Aldrich) served as a Chinese Language Officer for the U. S. Army at the American Legation in Peking (modern-day Beijing) during the early 1930s. During his time in Peking, he may have been acquainted with Laurence Sickman, the Nelson-Atkins' first Curator of Asian Art, who served as the museum's purchasing agent in Peking in the early 1930s.
Aldrich was the author of Hua Yü Hsü Chih Practical Chinese (H. Vetch, 1931). These puppets were on loan from Aldrich to the Nelson-Atkins from May 1938 until their purchase in 1946.
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