String puppet in the form of a male figure with a brown face, articulated eyes and a black beard. He might represent Bao Zhen, a very righteous man who was a chief minister during the Sung dynasty. The puppet wears a black robe decorated with embroidered sea dragon, possibly a Ming dynasty style or opera costume. Suspended belt attached to the mid-section. Wooden feet, hands and head covered with plaster and decorated with polychrome pigment. Various strings attached to a wooden suspension bar.
Part of The Louise Tythacott Collection . The Louise Tythacott Collection was compiled as the result of intensive fieldwork over several years in South China and Hong Kong. Ms Tythacott is a Chinese-speaking anthropologist and a museum curator, and was Curator of Ethnography at Liverpool Museum, who was particularly fortunate in developing contacts during the course of her work. Ms Tythacott has also made collections for the Museum of Mankind.
