Vietnamese Water Puppets-Traditional Folk Art-Water Puppet Art-Beautiful Vietnamese Water Puppets

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These puppets are all hand made and hand painted in Vietnam. Each puppet has different function. The old water puppets are special because they all have ages and performance histories. They have been in the shows in many countries. The big water puppets are made of solid wood and covered by lacquer. Each big puppet is a beautiful wood sculpture and painting work. They all have the signature of the artist.

Vietnamese water puppetry has a long history. An inscription on a stone stage in Doi pagoda, Duy Tien district, Nam Ha province, relates in 4036 words a water-puppet show staged in the year 1121 to mark a birth anniversary of King Ly Nhan Tong. Vietnamese water puppetry is an age-old typical and traditional art, closely bound to rural culture and agricultural civilization of rice planting of Vietnamese peasants.

In water-puppet (marinonette sur l'eau) shows there is a very effective combination of the visual effects provided by fire, water, and the movements of the puppets. Under the surface of the water is concealed the whole control system of the show. Calm and serene when fairy figures appear on it to sing and dance, it is agitated by stormy waves in scenes of battle with the participation of fire-spitting dragons.

In the art of water-puppetry one should note the many contributions of such handicrafts as wood sculpture and lacquer work. They all work together to bring out charming glimpses of the Vietnamese psyche as well as typical landscapes of Vietnam

Modern, water puppetry is performed in a pool of water with the water surface being the stage. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and very heavy. A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. Singers of Cheo (a form of traditional opera) with origin in north Vietnam sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets. The theme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. It tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamese folk tales that are told by grandparents to their grandchildren. Stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals are highlighted. Legends and national history are also told through short skits. Many of the skits, especially those involving the tales of day-to-day living, often have a humorous twist.
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Water Puppets - Big Water Puppets

These puppets are REAL! THey are designed and hand made by the artist who is making water puppets for the Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi. They are singed by the artist. They are designed and singed by the artist, scupturer, Nguyen Quoc Hung. Some puppets have the pictures of the artist on the working process (the process when and how the artist blows his soul into the puppets)

Click on any item to view a larger picture and order online!

Green Racing Boat

47" x 20"
$695

This is a phenomenal pice of art! 47" long and 20" high (bottom to the top of the standing puppet) The boat is 20" wide. They are all connected , and you can control the puppets to race by a string. Racing Dragon Boat is a popular activity for the new year celebration in Vietnam. The puppet is made by Master Nguyen Quoc Hung, who make the puppets for the Thang Long Water Puppets Theatre.

Red Racing Boat

47" x 20"
$695

This is a phenomenal pice of art! 47" long and 20" high (bottom to the top of the standing puppet) They are all connected , and you can control the puppets to race by a string. Racing Dragon Boat is a popular activity for the new year celebration in Vietnam. The puppet is made by Master Nguyen Quoc Hung, who make the puppets for the Thang Long Water Puppets Theatre.

Pounding Rice

20" x 20"
$250

This puppet designed and hand made by the Master Nguyen Quoc Hung. "Gia Gao" is the name of this puppet. He can perform the pounding rice with the miniature equipment. The puppet is authentic with the traditional outfit and the beautiful figure.

Dragon

21"
$250

This puppet designed and hand made by the Master Nguyen Quoc Hung. This price is for one dragon (21" long)

Holy Dancer/Red

20"
$295

This puppet designed and hand made by the Master Nguyen Quoc Hung. Holy Dancer is the name of this puppet.

Water Puppets - Water Puppets

They were scuptured by the vietnamese water puppet master, Nguyen Quoc Hung. The puppets are painted after well polished by lacquer paint which is waterproof and very provocative. The character figures are exquisite. There is a string in the back to make the puppets move. Each puppet has its own character and function.

Click on any item to view a larger picture and order online!

Puppet Soul DVD

$39

27 minutes DVD documentary of water puppets art of Vietnam. Vietnamese with english subtitle. Work in DVD Players or Computers. This is a great source of history and performaces of the unique art creation of Vietnam. The DVD is very informative and educative about the water puppets art (how the water puppet art starts, how they set up the stages, how the puppets are made, how the art survives in modern life, and more information relating the water puppet art.) This DVD is great for collectors and people who love the Vietnamese Water puppet art.

Water Puppets Music CD

$14

Water Puppets Music CD played by the Thang Long Water Puppets Theatre of Hanoi. List of songs and music is in Vietnamese and English.

WPB105

14"
$58

This puppet is a cheerful guy, a funny character in vietnamese parades . The puppet is made with the antique style finish which makes it look aged.

Fish Catcher

9"
$32

This puppet can move the basket to perform catching fish. This is a northern farmer with the rual outfit. There is a string in his back to move his hands to perform catching fish. The bamboo fist trap is the miniature of the fish trap that people still use to catch fish in the swamp or ponds.

Yellow Cheerful Guy

9"
$29

This cheerful guy is a popular character in village festivals or in parades. He has a special cheerful face and a funny outfit. He has two bells on his hands. There is a string in his back which can move his hands and ring the bells.

Yellow Northern Girl

9"
$29

This puppet (9 inches high) is a beautiful artwork. She is a northern girl with very charming outfit and hair style. She can perform washing vegetables. The puppet is painted after well polished by vietnamese lacquer paint which is very provocative and water proof. Shiny and beautiful.

WPB106

14"
$58

This puppet is a musician playing Trumpet. The puppet is made with the antique style finish which makes it look aged.

Musician 1

9"
$29

Hand Made by Artist Vu Quoc Bao. This puppet can perform playing Nhi, "Vietnamese violin" There is a string on his back to control the movements.

Yellow Fishing Man

9"
$28

Holy Dancer

9"
$29

Hand Made by Artist Vu Quoc Bao. This beautiful puppet is the miniature of the ral one. You can perform the dance by a string in her back.


Site Map Home
	Vietnamese Lacquer Paintings - Lacquer art is a famous ancient trade of Vietnam. Lacquer paintings with mother of pearl and sea shells inlay are vietnamese specialties.
	Vietnamese Embroidery Paintings - These Vietnamese embroidery paintings are bought directly from the artists in the rural villages of northern Vietnam where they are made. Each piece takes a great deal of time to complete. Our large Vietnamese embroidery paintings for example may take over one month for a single artist to finish. We hand pick only the most beautiful silk embroidery artwork having the highest thread count, the most exquisite colors and meeting strict quality standards. Many of our customers were first looking for Oriental cross stitch, Chinese embroidery or Japanese needlework when they discovered our site.
	Embroidery Paintings with Frames - Paintings with authentic solid wood frames made in USA Each painting is done profesionally with the backing, wooden frame (or painted wood) and glass. These framese are made by an local artist. Please visit his website to see his wood products: www.Gregswoodshed.com
	Vietnamese Traditional Silk Lanterns - Our beautiful Vietnamese silk lanterns are a wonderful way to decorate a home. They are made from finely woven silk and bamboo, and ad the perfect Asian accent to any room. These lanterns are hand made in Hoi An Vietnam by small family owned businesses. The material is natural vietnamese silk (natural silk made from silk worms which is very famous in Asia) The silk has beautiful colors and meaningful patterns. The frames are made by bamboo. Everything is hand made using bamboo, silk, and wood. Although made in Vietnam many people looking for Chinese lanterns are pleased by the quality of these Asian lamps from Vietnam. Our lanterns feature a convenient mounting bracket on the top for easy hanging. We also carry optional 15' lantern lighting kits.
	Vietnamese Silk Paintings - Silk painting art is famous in Asia. In Vietnam, the painting is made on the silk canvas. The delicate white color found in the sky, water or human portraits, is the color of silk. Colors and silk background give the paintings such an harmony with the nature.
	Oil Paintings - Welcome to our new gallery: Vietnamese oil paintings. They are the paintings of a group of vietnamese young artists. This collection has a variety of styles from peaceful vietnamese rural scenes to modern styles. They are NOT the mass produce prints on canvas and air brushed that we can easily find in the market. Each painting has a vivid life and unique. They are truly beautiful.
	Water Puppets - They are made out of wood and lacquer in Vietnam. Each big puppet is a beautiful wood sculpture and painting work. They all have the signature of the artist. See more and learn about the Vietnamese Water Puppets Art.
	Vietnamese Ceramic Tile Paintings - They are handpainted on ceramic material. After painting, the pictures were put into the kiln and were burned with high temperature. This process makes the color last forever. All ceramic paintings come with a beautiful handmade wooden frame which easily mounts on the wall.
	Stone and Wooden Boxes - These boxes are hand made in Vietnam. Please click on the pictures to see the handcarving details. The wooden boxes have bones (water buffalo) inlaid.
	Vietnamese Decoration Masks - They are made by vietnamese traditional material: bamboo, coconut, and lacquer. They are different figures and have different emotions. The masks are painted by the make-up styles of vietnamese traditional theatre. Each one expresses an emotion of one character. Each one is unique and we only have one of each item. Great for collectors!!!
	Flower Embroidery Paintings - These beautiful flower paintings are hand embroidered on the black fabric. Many fine tiny threads to form the flowers with the natural beauty and stunning colors.
	Hand made Chopsticks Boxes - The chopsticks boxes are hand made in Vietnam out of ebony and hard wood. The chopsticks are included.
	Lacquer Paintings on Plates - Plate Paintings: Exquisite paintings on Plates. Phenomenal scenes hand painted on lacquer plates!!!
	Vietnamese Paintings - These paintings are created by the young artists in the north of Vietnam with the variety of material: water color on Dzo papers, white color on black sand papers or just pencil or black crayon. They are singed and each is mounted on a thin white matte. The dimensions listed are for the painting itself.
	Ao Dai/ Children Vietnamese Traditional Dress - Ao Dai: Vietnamese traditional dress. Silk dress and pants made for children. We have different sizes and colors. They are perfect for your children.
	Vietnamese Children's Place - Hand Made Vietnamese Folk Toys for children: Paper Masks, Kites, Animal Character hats, Children Toys for Mid Autumn Festival, Children instruments, Dragon Flies.
	Children Bilingual Books/Pictures Books - Vietnamese folk tales pictures books in two languages: Vietnamese and English. These bilingual books have good content, authentic illustration, and reliable translation. They are great cultural source for children, parents and teachers!
	Vietnamese Music CDs - Original Vietnamese Music CDs with traditional musical plays and Vietnamese classical folk songs.
	Vietnamese Traditional Musical Instruments - They are the musical instruments for some vietnamese traditional music. some of them are the belong to the vietnamese ethnic minority groups. They are original folk music instrument.
	Jewelry Boxes - Hand made Vietnamese jewelry boxes with mother of pearl inlaid
	Vietnamese Quilts/Hmong Quilts - These quilts are made in Hoa Binh province, and some remote mountainous areas in the north of Vietnam. Quilts are the cultural products of Hmong people. We have a variety of quilt collection from “Hmong Den”, “Hmong Trang”, and “Hmong Hoa” people. They use their ancient techniques to make quilts such as using bee wax, cross stitching, and hand sewing. The technique make the quilt authentic and different from the “modern/industrial quilts” that we usually see in the market. The colors of the quilts come from nature. They use the natural material (leaves, dirt, roots, nuts, charcoal, ...) to color the quilts. These quilts are authentic by their beauty and uniqueness.
	Lacquerware -
	Silver Plated - 100% hand made in Vietnam: beautiful silver trays, boxes, bowls with exquisite carving. You can also find cute silver plated figure and tiny boxes.
	Vietnamese Bamboo Paintings - These paintings are made by bamboo, a typical vietnamese material. The Ensemble Bamboo Paintings are made of many pieces of bamboo on the natural bamboo fine sticks background, while the Smoked Bamboo Paintings are made by using knife scraping on the background.
	2008 Lunar Calendars - Each 2007 Silk Calendar is printed in both English and Vietnamese. The lunar calendar is the small print in the bottom of each date. The size of these calendars is about 16" x 38". Background is bright white. These pictures are a little dark.
	Vietnamese Traditional Hat - Vietnamese Northern Hat, Non Quai Thao is the vietnamese name for this hat. Vietnamese norhern girls wear these hat with the northern outfit, Ao Tu Than, the four flaps outfit.
	Vietnamese Dolls - These beautiful dolls are vietnamese. They are wearing vietnamese traditional dress and performing some vietnamese traditional instrument. Everything: their outfits and musical instruments are hand made in Vietnam.
	Ceramic Plates-Mini Tea Sets - Tea pots and plates hand made in Vietnam.
	Special Items - This category is for special items which have never been in America. These items have special vietnamese cultural aspects. They represent the vietnamese cultural life from a very common thing like playing card, transport vehicles to the original artwork. They are the vivid images of Vietnam and vietnamese life.
	Dong Ho Paintings - The background of the paintings is hand made from the bark of a tree called Dzo. The bark of Dzo is stored in the water for months, then grounded grounded and mixed with sea shell. See more...
	Silk Scarves and Fans - They are beautiful scarves imported from China and Hongkong. We have a variety of designs and colors which are fitted to your outfits for four seasons. They are extremly soft to touch your skin and very elegant.
	Chinese Corner - This is a corner for chinese artwork. We would like to introduce the artwork which represent for the traditional chinese folk art such as Scroll paintings, Silk embroidery paintings, chinese dolls.
	Gift Certificates - Can't decide on the perfect gift? Order a gift certificate in any of the below amounts. We will mail you an attractive certificate containing a special code the recipient can use to order anything they want on this website. In a hurry? We can email you the code, normally the same day.
	Northern Outfits - Ao Tu Than: Vietnamese traditional northern outfits

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