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Handcrafted Classical Hand Puppet--Professional Matchmaker (CoHP07)

Her rich colored outfit, neat hairdo and sweet

smile typifies a Chinese matchmaker from the

nineteen century.  Any respectable parent would

make use of her services to arrange the wedding

for their son or daughter.

Our Professional Matchmaker features:

 hands and feet: made of plastic;

 costume: made of silk/rayon

 (exclusive of decorations) with floral embroidery

Hand puppetry, also known as Cloth Bag Opera (called budai mu'ouxi in Chinese) is a type of

local opera using cloth puppets that originated during the 17th century in China's Fujian province,

and has been historically practiced in Guangdong, Taiwan, and other parts of southern China. 

The puppet's head uses wood carved into the shape of a hollow human head, the puppet's torso

and limbs consist entirely of cloth costumes. At the time of the performance, a master puppeteer

enters one hand into the puppet's costume and makes it perform.  In previous years the puppets

used in this type of performance strongly resembled "cloth sacks," hence the name, which

literally means "cloth bag opera." 

Today, not only the opera is popular in China, but also the making of the puppet, including

the delicate face painting and the beautiful embroidery of costumes becomes a unique and

elegant folk art.

Our Price: US$24.95