Transcriber’s Notes will be found after the Index.
[Illustration: DRYAD AND TWO FAUNS
[Puppets of Mr. William Simmonds, London]]
A BOOK _of_ MARIONETTES
_by_
HELEN HAIMAN JOSEPH
[Illustration]
_New York_ · B. W. HUEBSCH · _Mcmxx_
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
B. W. HUEBSCH
_To my Father_
ELIAS HAIMAN
_With pride and love for the brave simplicity
and gentle nobility of his life_
_Note_
The story of the marionette is endless, in fact it has neither
beginning nor end. The marionette has been everywhere and is
everywhere. One cannot write of the puppets without saying more than
one had intended and less than one desired: there is such a piquant
insistency in them. The purpose of this book is altogether modest, but
the length of it has grown to be presumptuous. As to its merit, that
must be found in the subject matter and in the sources from which the
material was gathered. If this volume is but a sign-post pointing the
way to better historians and friends of the puppets and through them on
to more puppet play it will have proven merit enough.
The bibliography appended is a far from complete list of puppet
literature. It includes, however, the most important works of modern
times upon marionettes and much comment, besides, that is casual or
curious or close at hand.
The author is under obligation to those friendly individuals who
generously gave of their time and interest and whose suggestions,
explanations and kind assistance have made possible this publication.
There are many who have been gracious and helpful, among them
particularly Mrs. Maurice Browne, Mr. Michael Carmichael Carr,
Professor A. K. Coomaraswamy, Mr. Stewart Culin, Dr. Jesse Walter
Fewkes, Mr. Henry Festing Jones, Dr. Berthold Laufer, Mr. Richard
Laukhuff, Mr. J. Arthur MacLean, Professor Brander Matthews, Dr. Ida
Trent O’Neil, Mr. Raymond O’Neil, Mr. Alfred Powell, Dr. R. Meyer
Riefstahl, Mr. Tony Sarg, and Mr. G. Bernard Shaw.
Above all, however, acknowledgment is due to the steady encouragement
and interested criticism of Ernest Joseph. Although he did not live
to see the finished volume, his stimulating buoyancy and excellent
judgment constantly inspired the composition of this simple account of
puppets.
_Contents_
How I Came to Write a Book on Puppets, 9
Puppets of Antiquity, 14
Oriental Puppets, 24
Puppets of Italy and Southern Europe, 50
The Puppets in France, 81
Puppet Shows of Germany and of other Continental Countries, 113
Puppetry in England, 143
The Marionettes in America, 164
Toy Theatres and Puppet Plays for Children, 192
A Plea for Polichinelle, 203
Behind the Scenes, 216
Construction of a Marionette Stage, 225
Bibliography, 229
Index, 233
_Illustrations_
SHADOW FIGURES DISCOVERED IN EGYPT BY DR. PAUL KAHLE _End-papers_
DRYAD AND TWO FAUNS _Frontispiece_
JOINTED DOLLS OR PUPPETS 18
SIAMESE SHADOWS 22
JAVANESE WAYANG FIGURES 24
JAVANESE ROUNDED MARIONETTES 26
WAYANG FIGURES FROM THE ISLAND OF BALI 28
BURMESE PUPPETS 30
CINGALESE PUPPETS 32
EAST INDIAN PUPPETS 34
TURKISH SHADOW FIGURE OF KARAGHEUZ 36
CHINESE PUPPETS 38
CHINESE SHADOW-PLAY FIGURES 40
CHINESE SHADOW-PLAY FIGURES 42
OLD JAPANESE PUPPET HEADS 44
JAPANESE PRINT 48
A WOODEN ITALIAN PUPPET 52
MEDIÆVAL MARIONETTES 54
ITALIAN FIGURES USED FOR CHRISTMAS CRIB 56
PULCINELLA IN ITALY 58
ITALIAN PUPPET BALLET 62
WOODEN SPANISH PUPPETS 78
GEORGE SAND’S PUPPET THEATRE AT NOHANT 92
PUPPETS OF GEORGE SAND’S THEATRE AT NOHANT 94
PUPPETS OF LEMERCIER DE NEUVILLE 96
TABLEAU (CHAT NOIR) 98
GUIGNOL AND GNAFRON 110
MARIONETTE THEATRE OF MUNICH ARTISTS 130
MARIONETTES OF RICHARD TESCHNER, VIENNA 134
BOHEMIAN PUPPETS 136
PUNCH HANGS THE HANGMAN 148
OLD ENGLISH PUPPETS 156
GAIR WILKINSON AND ASSISTANT AT WORK ON THE BRIDGE OF THEIR
PUPPET THEATRE 158
MARIONETTES EMPLOYED IN CEREMONIAL DRAMA OF THE AMERICAN
INDIANS 166
ITALIAN MARIONETTE SHOW 172
MARIONETTES AT THE CHICAGO LITTLE THEATRE 174
THE DEATH OF CHOPIN 178
SHADOWY WATERS 182
TONY SARG’S MARIONETTES BEHIND THE SCENES 184
A TRICK PUPPET 188
GERMAN PUPPET SHOW FOR CHILDREN 196
ENGLISH TOY THEATRE 200
PATTERNS FOR THE MARIONETTE BODY DRAWN BY MAX KALISH 222
DIAGRAMS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MARIONETTE STAGE 226
_How I Came to Write a Book on Puppets_
We were rehearsing laboriously. Some of our marionettes were finished;
the rest we borrowed from the cast of _Tintagiles_. The effect was
curious with Belangere and Ygraine acting as sentinels in their blue
and green gowns.
The play we were rehearsing was eventually given up. For various
reasons the little puppets about to be presented to you never displayed
themselves before the public. Undeniable facts, but for my story quite
irrelevant and inconsequential.
It was late and everyone else in the house had retired. I sat up all
alone, diligently sewing. Alone? Grouped around me in various stages
of completion sat the miniature members of the cast. I worked quietly,
much absorbed. Off in the corner there was a clock, ticking.
The Chief Prophet of the Stars lay in my hands, impressive by virtue
of his flowing white beard, even without the high purple hat. I rested
a moment, straightening a weary back. One long white arm of his was
pointing at me. He said: “Do not pity yourself. Despite your backache
you are having a lovely time.” I am sure he said this. I did not
answer. How could I? It was true. Near by was the black-robed Priest
with the auburn beard. “Even so,” he agreed, “her fingers are happy:
her tongue may not complain!”
“It is an honor to be permitted to dress us,” pompously proclaimed the
Chamberlain. He was perched upon the mantel. His queer, stiff beard
having been but recently shellacked was now in the process of drying.
He was a balloon shaped, striking fellow arrayed in orange.
“She must finish my high hat to-night,” said the Chief Prophet of the
Stars, “and see that my whiskers are decently trimmed. Then she may
retire.”
“No,” whimpered one of the spotty Spies from the floor, “she promised
to brighten my spots for tomorrow.” Then, in a loud aside, “She will
probably get my strings twisted while painting the spots. Serve her
right. She was too impatient to show me off yesterday. One should
finish the _spots first_, say I.” Ungrateful wretch, to be grumbling!
But he crawled and crept along the stage so wonderfully I hadn’t the
heart to chide him.
I sat the Chief Prophet upon my knee, crossly. His long arm protested
stiffly. I pulled the high hat down over his ominous brows. “It isn’t
right,” he said. It wasn’t. I took it off. How trying it must be for
him to have so clumsy a handmaiden. “Don’t pin it!” he commanded. “Rip
it and sew it neatly.” I picked up the scissors and ripped. Then I
sewed on in silence.
The marionettes, however, had many things to say.
“She is not as thorough as might be desired,” stated the Chamberlain.
“Indeed, I fear that in the manipulating also she is only an amateur
with no profound knowledge of the craft. Here am I, still dissatisfied
with the bow I make to His Majesty. I know just how I should bow. Who
would question my knowledge of etiquette? I shall not be content with
anything but _the correct_ bow, dignified and, in its way, imposing
as the nod of a King. It must be just so and not otherwise but _how
will she do it_? She has tried front strings and back strings and
innumerable petty expedients. She calls herself a puppeteer: let her
devise a way and that shortly! I scorn to display vexation but it
perturbs me not a little as the moment approaches for me to bow and the
bow, ahem ... refuses to function fittingly.”
“Try on the hat and do not be diverted by such details!” commands the
Chief Prophet. I sit him up seriously. “It will do,” he states; “trim
my whiskers.” I trim them, oh, very carefully. They hang augustly down
over his black stole. I gaze at him, entranced, and at his portrait
painted by a young artist. “I think you have caught the spirit of the
ideal,” he admitted. “Put me on the mantel.” I obey him.[1]
Next I take up the Spy. He writhes in my hand. I ply the paint brush,
more yellow paint on the yellow spots. True to prediction, his strings
become entangled. “I told you so,” hissed the green and yellow Spy.
“My spots will dry over night. You must arrange my strings tomorrow.”
I set him beside the Chief Prophet where he slinks down and subsides.
“Hee, hee, hee,” snickers the other Spy who has cerise spots of silk on
lavender. He is crouched on the floor in a heap. I raise him and place
him beside his fellow. He reaches out a long brown arm and pokes him
slyly.
I collect the other dolls. Very crude little rag affairs they seem in
their unfinished condition. The naked, white body of the King I lay
beside that of the Sentinel. One could scarcely tell them apart except
that the feet of the King are already encased in little scarlet boots
which are long and pointed and curled at the tips. The King is a stiff,
unbending person. But the other is a well built fellow fashioned with
exceeding care to stand and walk and sit superbly in a few clothes
holding a long red spear and a shield. Into the box I lay them, white
bodies, blank faces, limber arms and legs. “I shall have to shop again
for the King’s purple robe. What a bore!” I think, as I dump disjointed
priests, children and servants, all on top of His Majesty, and close
the cover of the tin box.
“You are insolent,” said the Chief Prophet of the Stars. “Well, yes,
perhaps, oh mighty marionette,” I admit, “but I am sleepy. Goodnight.”
“Fatigue is human,” remarked the black-robed Priest. “We marionettes
transcend such frailty.”
“We are immortal!!!” boomed forth the Chief Prophet. “So saith Anatole
France, also Charles Magnin, also others.”
“Hist,” whispered one of the Spies, “it is written in _The Mask_....”
And, as I moved quietly about in the adjoining room I heard them
discussing many matters, concerning themselves, of course. There was
talk of the ancient Indian Ramajana, of the Joruri plays of Japan,
of bleeding Saints and nodding Madonnas in Mediaeval churches. The
conversation veered to Pulcinella, his kinship with Kasper and
Karagheuz and with Punch across the channel. There were murmurings
of the names of Goethe, Voltaire, even Shakespeare to say nothing of
Bernard Shaw, Maeterlinck, Hoffmansthal, Schnitzler, all from the dolls
on the mantel and much, much more besides. Some things I overheard
distinctly before I fell asleep: some I may have dreamed. All that I
could recall I have put into a little book.
_Puppets of Antiquity_
“I wish to discant on the marionette.
One needs a keen taste for it and also a little veneration.
The marionette is august; it issues from a sanctuary....”
ANATOLE FRANCE
Perhaps the most impressive approach to the marionettes is through the
trodden avenue of history. If we travel from distant antiquity where
the first articulated idols were manipulated by ingenious, hidden
devices in the vast temples of India and Egypt, if we follow the
footprints of the puppets through classic centuries of Greece and Rome
and trace them even in the dark ages of early Christianity whence they
emerged to wander all over mediaeval Europe, in the cathedrals, along
the highways, in the market places and at the courts of kings, we may
have more understanding and respect for the quaint little creatures we
find exhibited crudely in the old, popular manner on the street corner
or presented, consciously naïve and precious, upon the art stage of
an enthusiastic younger generation. For the marionette has a history.
No human race can boast a longer or more varied, replete with such
high dignities and shocking indignities, romantic adventure and humble
routine, triumphs, decadences, revivals. No human race has explored so
many curious corners of the earth, adapted itself to the characteristic
tastes of such diverse peoples and, nevertheless, retained its
essential, individual traits through ages of changing environment and
ideals.
The origin of the puppet is still somewhat of a mystery, dating back,
as it undoubtedly does, to the earliest stages of the very oldest
civilizations. Scholars differ as to the birthplace and ancestry.
Professor Richard Pischel, who has made an exhaustive study of this
phase of the subject, believes that the puppet came into being along
with fairy tales on the banks of the Ganges, “in the old wonderland of
India.” The antiquity of the Indian marionette, indeed, is attested by
the very legends of the national deities. It was the god Siva who fell
in love with the beautiful puppet of his wife Parvati. The most ancient
marionettes were made of wool, wood, buffalo horn and ivory; they seem
to have been popular with adults as well as with children. In an old,
old collection of Indian tales, there is an account of a basketful
of marvellous wooden dolls presented by the daughter of a celebrated
mechanician to a princess. One of these could be made to fly through
the air by pressing a wooden peg, another to dance, another to talk!
Large talking puppets were even introduced upon the stage with living
actors. An old Sanskrit drama has been found in which they took part.
But in India real puppet shows, themselves, seem to have antedated
the regular drama, or so we may infer from the names given to the
director of the actors, which is _Sutradhara_ (Holder of the Strings)
and to the stage manager, who is called _Sthapaka_ (Setter up). The
implication naturally is that these two important functionaries of the
oldest Indian drama took their titles from the even more ancient and
previously established puppet plays.
There are authorities, however, who consider Egypt the original
birthplace of the marionette, among these _Yorick_ (P. Ferrigni),
whose vivid history of puppets is accessible in various issues of
_The Mask_. Yorick claims that the marionette originated somehow with
the aborigines of the Nile and that before the days of Manete who
founded Memphis, before the Pharaohs, great idols moved their hands and
opened their mouths, inspiring worshipful terror in the hearts of the
beholders. Dr. Berthold Laufer corroborates this opinion. He maintains
that marionettes first appeared in Egypt and Greece, and spread from
there to all countries of Asia. The tombs of ancient Thebes and Memphis
have yielded up many small painted puppets of ivory and wood, whose
limbs can be moved by pulling a string. These are figures of beasts as
well as of men and they may have been toys. Indeed, it is often claimed
that puppets are descended, not from images of the gods, but from “the
first doll that was ever put into the hands of a child.”
The _Boston Transcript_, in 1904, published a report of an article by
A. Gayet in _La Revue_ which gives a minute description of a marionette
theatre excavated at Antinoë. There, in the tomb of Khelmis, singer
of Osiris, archaeologists have unearthed a little Nile galley or barge
of wood with a cabin in the centre and two ivory doors that open to
reveal a stage. A rod across the front of this stage is supported by
two uprights and from this rod light wires were found still hanging.
Other indications leave little doubt that this miniature theatre was
used in a religious rite, possibly on the anniversary of the death of
the god Osiris, whose father was Ra, the sun, as a sort of passion play
performed by puppets before an audience of the initiated. Mortuary
paintings show us the ritual and tell us the story. As everything
excavated at this site is reported to be of the Roman or Coptic period
this is probably the oldest marionette theatre ever discovered!
The Chinese puppets and still older _shadows_ of the land as well as
of other Oriental countries are all of considerable antiquity. In
truth, it matters little whence came the first of the puppets, from
India, Egypt or from China, nor how descended, from the idols of
priests or the playthings of children. It is enough to know of their
indisputably ancient lineage and the honorable position granted them in
the legends of gods and heroes. Whatever remains uncertain or fantastic
in the theories of their origin can only add to the aura of romance
surrounding this imperishable race of fragile beings.
* * * * *
In the mythology of the Greeks one may find mention of the august
ancestors of the marionettes. Passages in the Iliad describe
the marvellous golden tripods fashioned by Vulcan which moved of
themselves. A host of great articulated idols were to be found in the
temples all over Greece. These were moved, Charles Magnin avers, by
various devices such as quicksilver, leadstone, springs, etc. There was
Jupiter Ammon, borne upon the shoulders of the priests, who indicated
with his head the direction he wished to travel. There were the Apollo
of Heliopolis, the Theban Venus, the statues created by Daedalus and
many others, all manipulated by priests from within the hollow bodies.
[Illustration: JOINTED DOLLS OR PUPPETS
Terra-cotta, probably Attic
[Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]
But aside from these inspiring deities, in fact right along with
them, Greek puppetry grew up and flourished. Yorick writes, “Greece
from remotest times of which any accounts have come down to us had
marionette theatres in the public places of all the most populated
cities. She had famous showmen whose names, recorded on the pages of
the most illustrious writers, have triumphed over death and oblivion.
She had her ‘balletti’ and pantomimes exclusively conceived and
preordained for the play of ‘pupazzi,’ etc.” Eminent mathematicians
interested themselves in perfecting the mechanism of the dolls until,
as Apuleius wrote, “Those who direct the movement of the little wooden
figures have nothing else to do but to pull the string of the member
they wish to set in motion and immediately the head bends, the eyes
turn, the hands lend themselves to any action and the elegant little
person moves and acts as though it were alive.” A pleasant hyperbole
of Apuleius perhaps, but some of us credulously prefer to have faith in
it.
In the writings of the celebrated Heron of Alexandria, living two
centuries before Christ, one can find a very minute description of a
puppet show for which he planned the ingenious mechanism. He explains
that there were two kinds of automata, first those acting on a movable
stage which itself advanced and retreated at the end of the acts and
second, those performing on a stationary stage divided into acts by a
change of scene. The _Apotheosis of Bacchus_ was of the first type, the
action presented within a miniature temple wherein stood the statue
of the god with dancing bacchantes circling around, fountains jetting
forth milk, garlands of flowers, sounding cymbals, all accomplished by
a mechanism of weights and cords. It was an extremely elaborate affair.
Of the second type of puppet show Heron cites as example _The Tragedy
of Nauplius_, the mechanism for which was invented by a contemporary
engineer, Philo of Byzantium. There were five scenes disclosed, one
after the other, by doors which opened and closed: first, the seashore,
with workmen constructing the ships, hammering, sawing, etc.; second,
the coast with the Greeks dragging their ships to the water; third, sky
and sea, with the ships sailing over the waters which begin to grow
rough and stormy; fourth, the coast of Euboë, Nauplius brandishing a
torch on the rocks and shoals whither the Greek vessels steer and
are shattered (Athene stands behind Nauplius, who is the instrument
of her vengeance); fifth, the wreck of the ships, Ajax struggling and
drowning in the waves, Athene appearing in a thunder clap! This play
was probably taken from episodes of the Homeric legend and, although
Heron does not so state, the action of the puppets was most likely
accompanied by a recital of the poem upon which the drama was founded.
Xenophon describes still another type of show, a banquet at which
the host brought in a Syracusan juggler to amuse the guests with his
dancing marionettes. The best showmen in Greece seem to have been
Sicilians. These peripatetic showmen went from town to town with their
figures in a box. The plays they presented were generally keen, strong
satires on the foibles of human nature, the vices of the times, the
prominent or pompous persons of the day, parodies on popular dramas or
schools of philosophy. They were a favorite diversion of the masses and
of cultured people as well. Even Socrates is reported to have bandied
words with a Sicilian showman, asking him how he made a living in his
profession. To which the showman made reply: “The folly of men is an
inexhaustible fund of riches and I am always sure of filling my purse
by moving a few pieces of wood.” Eventually the puppets usurped a place
upon the classic stage itself, and it is reported that a puppet player,
Potheinus, had a small stage specially erected for his marionettes
on the thymele of the great theatre of Dionysius at Athens where
Euripedes’ plays had been presented.
* * * * *
The Romans borrowed marionette traditions from the Greeks as they did
many other art forms. There were large articulated statues of the
gods and emperors in Rome. At Praeneste the celebrated group of the
infants of Jupiter and Juno seated upon the knees of Fortune appears
to have been of this sort; the nurse seems to have been movable. Livy
describes a banquet celebration and the terror of the people and of the
Senate upon hearing that the gods averted their heads from the dishes
presented them. Ovid, also, gives an account of the startling effect
produced upon the beholders when the statue of Servus Tullius moved.
As in Greece, there were special puppet performances given in private
homes as well as the wandering shows along the highways. The latter
were popular with common people, with poets, philosophers and emperors.
Marcus Aurelius wrote about them, Horace and Persius mentioned them.
The personages of the Roman puppet stage generally represented obvious
and amusing types of humanity; their repertoire consisted chiefly
of bold satire and parodies on popular dramas. The conventionalized
characters of Roman marionette theatres were not at all dissimilar
from the later heroes of the Italian _fantoccini_. A bronze portrait
of Maccus, the Roman buffoon, which was unearthed in 1727, might
serve almost as a statue of Pulcinella, hooked nose, nut-cracker chin,
hunchback and all. In fact it is thought that these Roman mimes or
_sanni_ have lived on in the Italian _burattini_, and in the characters
of the Commedia dell’ Arte. This theory has been criticized by some
who feel that the _personaggi_ such as Arlecchino and Pulcinella grew
out of the mannerisms and characteristics of the Italians, just as
the puppet buffoons of Rome were true offspring of the Roman people,
and that any resemblances between them may be laid at the door of
common frailties existing in humanity of all ages and ever fit subject
for the satirical play of puppets. Nevertheless it is not impossible
to believe that through the curiously confused period in Italy when
Pagan culture was giving way to Christianity, when heathen ideals were
half perishing, half persisting, something of the old was embodied
in, assimilated with the new. And so it may have happened with the
marionettes, Maccus emerging with much of Pulcinella, Citeria appearing
as Columbine. We have Pappus Bruccus and Casnar, the parasite, the
glutton, the fool, passed on somehow.
[Illustration: SIAMESE SHADOWS
Belonging to the collection in the Smithsonian Institution, U. S.
National Museum. This collection was presented by the King of Siam in
1876]
But not alone this. Excavators in the Catacombs have discovered
small jointed puppets of ivory or wood in many tombs. They look like
dolls, but they may have been religious images used by the earliest
Christians. The Iconoclasts in their zeal annihilated everything that
had the appearance of an idol, and many a puppet perished along with
the images of the gods, Maccus as well as Apollo! But soon the
Church saw the wisdom of using concrete, vivid representation instead
of mere abstract symbolism scarcely comprehensible to the simple
minded. “Into the churches crept figures, Jesus’ body on the Cross
instead of the Lamb. To the Apollo of Heliopolis succeeded the crucifix
of Nicodemus, to the Theban Venus the Madonna of Orihuela.” (P.
Ferrigni.) Occasionally these figures were made to move a head or to
gesticulate. And here we find the earliest beginnings of the mysteries
which were later to come out from the churches and monasteries as
precursors not only of our puppet shows but of practically all our
drama.
_Oriental Puppets_
There are few of us who at times have not unleashed our imaginations,
flung away the reins and bidden our thoughts roam freely beyond the
vision of our straining eyes. Who has not pondered whimsically what
sort of crooked creatures may be shambling over the craters and
crevices of the moon? Similarly the unfamiliar Eastern lands afford
adventure for our Western fancies. How alluring the imaginary sights
and sounds fantastically flavored; glimmer of spangles, daggers,
veils and turbans, camels and busy bazaars and mosques white in the
sun, strumming of curious instruments, gurgle, clatter and patter,
enigmatical whisperings and silences of unknown import. But of all
things so strange what could be fashioned stranger than the puppets
of Eastern peoples? As the dreams and philosophies of the Orient seem
farther away from us than its most distant cities, so these small
symbols of unfamiliar creeds and cultures for us are most amazing.
What skill and artistry is displayed in the creation of them, what
capricious imagery in their conception! Let us consider them.
[Illustration: JAVANESE WAYANG FIGURES
[American Museum of Natural History, New York]]
Probably the Javanese _shadows_ present the most weirdly fascinating
spectacle to our unaccustomed eyes. What singular creatures are
here? Bizarre beyond all description, grotesque forms with long,
lean beckoning arms and incredible profiles, adorned with curious,
elaborate ornamentation. They are made of buffalo skin, carefully
selected, ingeniously treated, intricately cut and chiseled, richly
gilded and cunningly colored, and they are supported and manipulated by
fragile and graceful rods of horn or bamboo. Such are the colorful and
inscrutable little figures of gods and heroes in the _Wayang Purwa_,
ancient and celebrated drama of Java, popular now as in the days of
Java’s independence.
These shadow-plays are half mythical and religious, half heroic and
national in character, portraying the well-known feats of native gods
and princes, the battles of their royal armies, their miraculous and
preposterous adventures with giants and other fabulous creatures. Each
incident, each character is familiar to the audience. One heroine
is thus described in Javanese poetry. “She was really a flower of
song, the virgin in the house of Pati. She was petted by her father.
Her well-proportioned figure was in perfect accord with her skill in
working. She was acquainted with the secrets of literature. She used
the Kawi speech fluently, as she had practised it from childhood. She
was elegant in the recitation of formulas of belief and never neglected
the five daily prayer hours. She was truly Godfearing. Moreover, she
never forgot her batik work. She wove gilded passementerie and painted
it with figures, etc., etc. She was truly queen of the accomplished,
neat and charming in her manner, sweet and light in her gestures, etc.,
etc.
“She was sprayed with rosewater. Her body was warm and hot if not
anointed every hour. She was the virgin in the house of Pati. Everyone
who saw her loved her. She had only one fault. Later, when she married,
she could not endure a rival mistress. She was jealous, etc.”
A prose account tells us of the same young lady. It is said of Kyahi
Pati Logender’s youngest child: “This was a daughter called Andjasmara,
beautiful of form. If one wished to do full justice to her appearance
the describer would certainly grow weary before all of her beauty could
be portrayed. She was charming, elegant, sweet, talkative, lovely,
etc., etc. Happy he who should obtain her as a wife.”
[Illustration: JAVANESE ROUNDED MARIONETTES
[American Museum of Natural History, New York]]
The plots are based upon old, old Indian saga, from the _Mahabharata_,
the _Ramayana_, the _Pandji_ legends and also upon native fable such
as the _Manik Muja_. There are several varieties of Wayang play, each
founded upon one or several of these sources. The _Wayang Purwa_ and
the _Wayang Gedog_ are silhouette plays presented by leather figures
behind a lighted screen. Sometimes, however, the women in the audience
are seated on one side of the screen, the men on the other, so that
some see the gray shadows, others the colored figures. The _Wayang_
Keletik is given not with shadows but with the painted hide figures
themselves displayed to the audience. All these performances are not
ordinary public events, but rather special productions in celebration
of particular occasions. Etiquette at the Wayang demands that regular
rites be observed before the performance, incense burned and food
offered to the gods.
The _Dalang_, or showman, is a person of great skill and versatility.
He seats himself cross-legged on a mat surrounded by figures; there are
about one hundred and twenty to a complete Wayang set. He directs the
gamelin music of the orchestra which keeps up a tomtom and scraping of
catgut throughout, gives a short preliminary exposition of the plot,
brings on the characters which he holds and manipulates with slender
rods, places them with precision and then the play begins. The Dalang,
as the music softens, speaks for each one of the characters. The
general tone is heroic with comedy introduced upon occasion. There are
struggles, battles, love scenes, dances. The Dalang shuffles with his
feet for the dancing, makes a noise of tramping or fighting, adjusts
the lights on the screen, all the while moving the figures and speaking
feelingly for them.
Besides these so-called shadows the Javanese have also rounded
marionettes carved out of wood, which have long, slender arms and
fantastic touches revealing kinship with the figures of painted hide.
The play presented by these crude but rather startling dolls is called
_Wayang Golek_. The puppets are moved from below by rods attached to
their bodies and hands as are the shadow figures. Still other types of
plays are the _Wayang Beber_, presented by rolls of pictures, and much
later (eighteenth century) the _Wayang Topang_ in which rigidly trained
human actors, dressed in the conventional costumes of the Wayang
figures, take the parts of the puppets. But here as in the puppet
dramas the Dalang reads all the words.
On the island of Bali, one of the group of the Indian Archipelago,
Wayang plays are like those of Java. The old figures are very
wonderful, cut out of young buffalo hide, carefully treated and
prepared. The tool formerly used to make them was a primitive pointed
knife. The Wayang sets made to-day, in spite of the superiority of
modern European instruments which are employed, are very crude in
comparison. This is because with the loss of independence the natives
also lost all interest in their own art and culture; indeed new Wayangs
are made only when the old ones are worn out.
* * * * *
The shadows of the Siamese _Nang_ are also unusual. This is a
representation of certain scenes from the Indian epic, _Ramayana_, and
depicts the adventures of Prince Rama and his wife Sita. It is given in
private homes for special festivals and is of a serious, poetic nature.
As described by a native of Siam, “It is a show of moving, transparent
pictures over a screen illumined by a strong bonfire behind.” It
is recited by two readers and sometimes requires as many as twenty
operators. The figures more nearly approach the human form than do
those of the Javanese shadows, but their queer, pointed headdress and
strange costuming produce a very striking and highly stylized effect.
They are made of hide which has been previously cut, scraped and
stretched with extreme care. The technique of decorating the figures
is most difficult, for the forms are stenciled and perforated by an
infinite number of pricks, to indicate not only the outlines but also
the nature of the fabric of garments, the jewels, weapons, etc. These
perforations scarcely show unless held before a light, when they give
a very rich and variegated effect. There is great art as well in the
dyeing and fixing of the colors, and in estimating the amount of light
which should be allowed to penetrate so as to give a well-proportioned
aspect to the figure as a whole. In Siam as in Java there are to be
found ordinary dramatic performances by wooden puppets more recent in
origin and not unlike those of Burma.
* * * * *
These puppet theatres of Burma exhibit a peculiar combination of
fantastic legend and grotesque, realistic humor. The puppet stage of
the country seems to have been more highly developed than its regular
drama. A visiting company of Burmese marionettes was displayed at
the Folies Bergères in Paris, where they were much admired for their
beautiful costumes, wonderful technical construction, the natural poses
they assumed and the graceful gestures they made. Mr. J. Arthur MacLean
tells of the annual celebration which he witnessed a few years ago at
Ananda, the famous old Buddhist site. It consisted of a performance by
the temple puppets which began early in the evening and lasted all the
night through. The marionettes were the property of the temple and when
not in use were stored away there. They were large and elaborate and
manipulated with strings. The audience comprised the entire population
of the village; every man and woman was present and they had brought
all of their children. The first part of the show was comical for the
sake of the children who, we may presume, fell asleep as the night
progressed. The plays which followed became more and more serious and
were of a religious nature. Some Burmese puppets, however, are very
primitive, being painted wooden dolls, odd and humorous in spirit. The
license of the showman is extreme, but does not seem to offend the
taste of the native audience.
* * * * *
In Turkestan and in Central Asia puppet shows are a very popular
diversion along with the feats of jugglers and dancers. There are two
types of puppets existing, one the very diminutive dolls carried about
by ambulant players whose extremely naïve dialogue is composed chiefly
for the amusement of children. The other, on a larger scale, is to be
seen on small stages erected in coffee houses or at weddings and other
private celebrations.
[Illustration: BURMESE PUPPETS
_Upper_: Made of rag, cotton and plaster
_Lower_: Made of painted wood
[American Museum of Natural History, New York]]
R. S. Rehm gives a description of a crude little marionette theatre in
Samarkand. Out in the crowded narrow streets sounds as terrifying as
the trumpet on the walls of Jericho announced the beginning of the
performance. The interior was a dark hall with a roof of straw matting
through the holes of which mischievous youngsters were continually
peeking until they were chased away. It was called _Tschadar Chajal_,
Tent of Fantasy. The puppets revealed Indian origin, but their huge
heads, with the clothing merely hung upon them, indicated Russian
influences. There was one scene of modern warfare with toy cannons
hauled upon the stage. Then came a play within a play. Yassaul, the
native buffoon, was a sort of master of ceremonies. Various comical
and grotesque marionettes appeared whom he greeted and led to their
places. The King himself entered upon a miniature horse, dismounted
and seated himself on a throne in the tiny audience. The performance
for His Majesty consisted of puppet dancers, puppet jugglers and last
of all, a marionette representing a drunken European dragged away by a
native policeman. At this point the small and also the large audience
expressed great delight.
* * * * *
Of the puppets of Persia a very ancient legend tells us how a Chinese
shadow play was performed before Ogotai, successor of Tamerlane. The
artist presented upon his screen the figure of a turbaned old man being
dragged along tied to the tail of a horse. When Ogotai inquired what
this might signify the showman is said to have replied: “It is one of
the rebellious Mohammedans whom the soldiers are bringing in from
the cities in this manner.” Whereupon Ogotai, instead of being angry
at the taunt, had his Persian art treasures, jewels and rich brocades
brought forth, also rare Chinese fabrics and carven stones. Displaying
them all to the showman, he pointed out the beauties in the products of
both lands as well as the natural difference between them. The showman
having learned this lesson of tolerance went away greatly abashed.
[Illustration: CINGALESE PUPPETS
_Upper_: Devil and Merchant
_Lower_: King and Queen
Part of a collection received from the Ceylon Commission of the World’s
Columbian Exposition, 1895, by the Smithsonian Institution. U.S.
National Museum]
_Shadows_ are mentioned in the works of the Persian poet, Muhammed
Assar, in 1385, when they seem to have been eagerly cultivated. Since
then, however, they have sadly deteriorated. It is said that wandering
jugglers with their primitive dolls scarcely elicit a smile from the
educated Persians, although they are sometimes asked into homes to
amuse guests or children. As a rule they play in open places and after
the show the owner collects the pennies from the audience standing
around, calling down the curse of Allah upon those who walk away
without paying. The comic puppet, according to Karl Friederich Flögel,
is Ketschel, a bald-headed hero “more cultured than all the Hanswursts
in the world.” He spouts poetry, quotes from the Koran, sings of the
houris in Paradise and, when alone, throws aside his wisdom, dances and
gets drunk.
* * * * *
Professor Pischel has written that he believes the puppet plays of
India not only to have antedated the regular drama, but also to have
outlived it. He claims moreover that the puppet shows are the
only form of dramatic expression left at the present time. What a
contribution from the marionette to the land of its birth and, on the
other hand, how much the races of India must have given of themselves
and their imaginations to the little wooden creatures; for the interest
of the beholder, alone, is the breath of life which animates them
through the centuries.
It is amusing to read of the life-sized walking and talking puppets
used in the tenth century by a dramatist, Rajah Gekhara. One doll
represented Sita and another her sister. A starling trained to speak
Prakrit was placed in the mouth of _Sita_ to speak for her. The puppet
player spoke for the other doll as well as for the demon, which part
in the drama he himself enacted and spoke in Sanskrit.[2] In one of
the issues of _The Mask_ there is printed the following account of
religious puppets of the thirteenth century in Ceylon. A great festival
was being solemnized in the temple, which had been richly decorated for
the event and furnished “with numerous images of Brahma dancing with
parasols in their hands that were moved by instruments; with moving
images of gods of divers forms that went to and fro with their joined
hands raised in adoration; with moving figures of horses prancing; ...
with likenesses of great elephants ... with these and divers other
shows did he make the temple exceeding attractive.” (Mahavamsa, ch.
85).
In quite recent days, P. C. Jinavaravamsa, himself a priest and prince
of Siam, as well as an artist, has written an article attesting the
aesthetic worth and popularity of Indian puppets to-day. “Beautiful
figures, six to eight inches high, representing the characters of
the Indian drama, _Ramayana_, are made for exhibition at royal
entertainments. They are perfect pieces of mechanism; their very
fingers can be made to grasp an object and they can be made to assume
postures expressive of any action or emotion described in poetry;
this is done by pulling strings which hang down within the clothing
or within a small tube attached to the lower part of the figure, with
a ring or a loop attached to each, for inserting the fingers of the
showman. The movements are perfectly timed to the music and recitation
of singing. One cannot help being charmed by these Lilliputs, whose
dresses are so gorgeous and jeweled with the minutest detail. Little
embroidered jackets and other pieces of dress, representing magnificent
robes of a Deva or Yakha, are complete in the smallest particular; the
miniature jewels are sometimes made of real gold and gems.”
[Illustration: EAST INDIAN PUPPETS
From an old rest house for pilgrims connected with an old Jain Temple
at Ahmadabad. The figures were attached to a mechanical organ and their
motions followed the music
[Part of a collection in the Brooklyn Institute Museum]]
The popular plays of India have never been written down, as were the
classic dramas, but, according to the custom of wandering showmen,
they were handed on from father to son. Thus, much in them has been
lost for us. But Vidusaka, the buffoon, has survived, “as old as
the oldest Indian art,” the fundamental type of comic character, and
possibly the prototype of them all,--Vidusaka, a hunchbacked dwarf with
protruding teeth, a Brahmin with a bald head and distorted visage. He
excites merriment by his acts, his dress, his figure and his speech.
He is quarrelsome, gluttonous, stupid, vain, cowardly, insolent and
pugnacious, “always ready to lay about him with a stick.” Professor
Pischel avers that we can follow this little comedian as he wandered
away with the gypsy showmen whose original home was that of the
marionette, mysterious ancient India. He trails him into Turkey, where
he became metamorphosed into the famous (or infamous) Karagheuz after
having served as a model for the buffoons of Persia, Arabia and Egypt.
But more than this, it is believed that long before Arlecchino and
other offspring of Maccus found their way northward there existed in
the mystery and carnival plays of Germany a funny fellow with all the
family traits of the descendants of the Indian Vidusaka. And it was
probably the gypsies again, coming up from Persia and Turkey through
the Balkan countries and Hungary (where similar types of puppet-clowns
are to be discovered) who carried the cult from far-off times and
introduced into Austria and Germany the ancient ancestor of Hanswurst
and Kasperle.
* * * * *
In Turkey, as in so many Oriental countries, the shadow play is the
chief representative of dramatic art. There are several little
tales told concerning the origin of Turkish puppets. One relates how
a Sultan, long ago, commanded his Vizier on pain of death to bring
back to life two favorite court fools whom he had executed, perhaps
somewhat rashly. The Vizier, in this dire dilemma, consulted with a
wise Dervish, who thereupon caught two fish, skinned them and cut out
of the dried skins two figures representing the two dead jesters. These
he displayed to the Sultan behind a lighted curtain, and the illusion
seems to have satisfied that autocratic personage.
Another story tells that long ago in Stamboul there lived a good man
who grieved daily with righteous indignation over the misrule of the
governing Pashas. He pondered long how to improve conditions and how
to carry the matter to the attention of the Sultan himself. Finally he
decided to establish a shadow play whose fame, he hoped, might lure
the Sultan in to see it. And, indeed, the people thronged to witness
his Karagheuz. But when at last the august Sultan came and took his
place in the audience, Karagheuz had more serious matters to display
than his usual pranks. The Sultan’s eyes were opened to the abuses of
his ministers, whom he removed and justly punished. The founder of
the Karagheuz play, on the other hand, was made Vizier. His show has
remained the favorite diversion of the people.
[Illustration: TURKISH SHADOW FIGURE OF KARAGHEUZ
[From Georg Jacob’s _Das Schattentheater_]]
These Turkish shadows are all centered around the hero, a sort of
native Don Juan, a scamp with a good bit of mother wit; he is called
“Karagheuz” (Black Eye). There are about sixty other characters to a
complete cast, among them Hadji-aivat, representative of the cultured
classes and boon companion of Karagheuz, and Bekri Mustafa, the rich
peasant just come to town, who frequents questionable resorts, gets
drunk and is invariably plundered. There are Kawassan, the rich Jew,
and a Dervish and a romantic robber and the Frank and the wife and
daughter of Hadji-aivat and all sorts of dancers, beggar-women, etc.
George Jacob brings to notice also pathological types such as the
dwarf, the opium fiend, the stutterer and others; also representatives
of foreign nations, the Arabian, the Persian, the Armenian, the Jew,
the Greek, all of whose peculiar accents and mistakes in speaking the
Turkish language form a constant source of merriment to the Turks
themselves. The plot generally consists of the improper adventures of
Karagheuz, his tricks to secure money, his surprising indecencies,
his broad, satirical comment on the life about him. Théophile Gautier
was present at a Karagheuz performance. He writes: “It is impossible
to give in our language the least idea of these huge jests, these
hyperbolical, broad jokes which necessitate to render them the
dictionary of Rabelais, of Beroalde of Eutrapel flanked by the vulgar
catechism of Vade.”
The extreme beauty of the production, however, and the expertness of
the manipulator somewhat redeem the performances for our Western eyes.
The figures are cut out of camelskin, the limbs skilfully articulated.
Holes in the necks or chests and, for special figures which
gesticulate, also in the hands, enable slender rods to be inserted
at right angles by which they are manipulated. The appearance of the
transparent, brightly colored figures, with heavy exaggerated outlines,
rather resembles mosaic work, while the faces are sometimes done with
the extreme care of portraits. The effect produced by these luminous
forms is truly beautiful; the color is heightened by surrounding
darkness, which tends to increase the seeming size of the figures and
to give them an almost plastic quality.
[Illustration: CHINESE PUPPETS
_Upper_: Operated from above with strings
_Lower_: Operated from below with sticks
[American Museum of Natural History, New York]]
From an account of F. von Luschan we may imagine the usual Karagheuz
performance to take place in somewhat the following manner. In any
coffee house the rear corner is screened off with a thick curtain
into which is inserted a frame. Over the frame a linen is stretched
taut. Behind it is set a platform or table upon or at which the
operator places himself and his figures. There is little equipment.
Four oil lamps with several wicks are furnished with good olive oil
to distribute an even illumination behind the screen. The manipulator
brings on his characters and talks for them. If two of them gesticulate
simultaneously, he overcomes the difficulty by holding one of the
rods lightly pressed against his body, thus freeing a hand for the
emergency. He must also keep time to the dancing with his castanets,
stamp the floor for marching, smack himself loudly to imitate the
sound of buffets and keep an eye on the lamps which threaten constantly
to set fire to himself and his paraphernalia.
[Illustration: WAYANG FIGURES FROM THE ISLAND OF BALI
[Collected by and belonging to Mr. Maurice Sterne, New York]]