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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.50.172
Title
Ornament in the shape of Karagoz Shadow Puppet, "Karagoz" Character
Classification
Recreational Artifacts
Work Type
puppet
Date
20th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Türkiye (Turkey), Istanbul
Period
Modern
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/146574

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Painted leather
Dimensions
14.7 x 8.7 cm (5 13/16 x 3 7/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1998-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.50.172
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Shadow plays were first performed in the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth century, with the popular form known as Karagöz (Black Eye) developing in the 1600s. These plays were put on mainly in the evenings during Ramadan, the month of fasting, as popular entertainment. Although Karagöz theater was essentially comedic, political satire was an important component; the stories and characters represented a broad cross-section of Ottoman culture in Istanbul. The popularity of shadow plays declined in the twentieth century with the advent of cinema, radio, and television. A single puppeteer assisted by one or two apprentices performed the Karagöz shadow play, moving the puppets behind a screen of white cloth. When the puppeteer pressed the painted, translucent-leather figures to the screen, oil lamps or candles behind them would cast their colorful shadows. The puppets were usually made in three parts—head, body, and feet—and joined together with pieces of gut threaded through holes. The single or double horizontal rods by which they were moved were attached to reinforced socket-like holes in their necks or upper bodies. While performing, the puppeteer, behind the cloth screen, could hear but not see his audience. He would be the voice of each figure regardless of its age, gender, or regional accent and would sing, recite poetry, and improvise all the lines, since there was no written script.

The figure represented here, Karagöz (Black Eye) is the main character, lending his name to the play itself. He is a bold personality, depicted with a large black eye, a curly black beard, and, often, a large turban. He represents a man of the people, who is usually unemployed and embarking on doomed moneymaking ventures. He is illiterate but witty, nosy, tactless, often deceitful, and inclined to bawdy talk.

This and the four other figures in this group represent major characters in the Karagöz stories. They are considered ornamental replicas, because they lack the holes necessary for the attachment of the puppeteer’s rods, have no moving parts, and are appreciably smaller than authentic puppets, which range in height from twenty-five to thirty-five centimeters.

Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
46

Karagöz
14.7 × 8.7 cm (5 13/16 × 3 7/16 in.)
2002.50.172

Karagöz (Black Eye) is the main character, lending his name to the play itself. He is a bold personality, depicted with a large black eye, a curly black beard, and, often, a large turban. He represents a man of the people, who is usually unemployed and embarking on doomed moneymaking ventures. He is illiterate but witty, nosy, tactless, often deceitful, and inclined to bawdy talk.

Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım

Publication History

  • Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), p. 271, cat. 146, ill.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2019 - 01/08/2020

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu