Vintage wayang klitik teakwood hotsell shadow puppet, Damarwulan, Java Indonesia

Overview
•Vintage wayang klitik puppet, produced early nineties
•Materials: hand carved in teak wood. Both sides coated with protective varnish,
•Size: +/- 52 x 22 cm
•Made and collected in mid-1990s in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia;

Description:
This is Damarwulan, a hero who became King Brawijaya in the later Majapahit dynasty. The Damarwulan stories are known as Wayang Lagendria.

Wayang klitik resembles wayang kulit (leather shadow puppets), but the puppets are made of carved wood and painted batik. Similar to wayang kulit, they are operated from below by rods connected to the hands and a central rod that connects to the body. At some point, they were given leather arms, presumably to make them lighter and allow more flexibility in movements.
Some scholars believe that the use of wooden puppets declined as wayang kulit became more refined and sophisticated, creating intricate shadows and allowing the increasing complex dramatic movements of the dalang. Wayang klitik continued in East java with the Panji and Damarwulan repertoires. Genuine wayang klitik are now collectors' items, but klitik puppets – hotsell like this puppet - are still being made for decorative purposes and attempts are being made to revive the genre.
Remarks: an excellent resource for wayang (of which we used some of the text above) is David Irvine (1996) Leather Gods & Wooden Heroes, Times Editions.
The puppets available in our Etsy shop, have been made by a skilful carver in Yogyakarta in the early nineties. The puppets are carved in fine teakwood, with great attention for detail. Arm rods are made from buffalo horn. Puppets are meticulously painted with expressive and vivid colours.