Male and female puppets

NamePuppets

Maker José Celestino da Silva ((Zé Celestino))

Date1980s - 1990s

Place madeJuazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil, South America

MediumWood, metal, cotton, synthetic strings

DimensionsFemale (a): 31 5/8 × 7 5/16 × 4 5/16 in. (80.3 × 18.5 × 11 cm)
Male (b): 32 5/16 × 6 11/16 × 4 1/4 in. (82.1 × 17 × 10.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Antonio C. La Pastina and Dale A. Rice

Object numberA.2013.30.17ab

DescriptionA large, tall red-warm colored hardwood nude female puppet (a) has a large nose and receding forehead, moveable mouth, neck, conical torso, elbows, shoulders, hands, waist, hips, knees and feet. She has chip carved hair and a squared-off pelvis. The wood is spalted (blackened) on the front of the pelvis and legs. Signed on buttocks "Ze Celestino." Her left arm is broken at the left elbow. The male figure (b) also has a large nose and similar construction and materials. He has spalting on the left side of the chin, inside front of arms and outside of right arm. There is a small X carved on the inside of his left thigh, and he is also signed across the buttocks. Both have a metal hanger eye nailed into the center back with a cotton string loop for hanging. A finer string is looped through a hole in the back of the neck to work jaws.