Small traveling puppeteer's theater with 8 rod puppets - Lot 122

Small traveling puppeteer's theater with 8 rod puppets Wooden boards and polychrome carved wood. The theater takes the form of the architectural facade of a building (a church?), with a central pediment highlighted by an elaborate border, completed by a window opening with two leaves. The ensemble is surmounted by two winged cherubs, bearing the phylactery "GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO" and framed by two towers. Each is embellished with a niche-shaped opening in the center and simulated painted windows above and below. Each tower is topped by a bulbous bell tower. The lower part of the interior, in the background, features a double fence (in the style of a liturgical fence or crib). The overhanging arch is crowned with a star and a frieze of colorful pendants. A mobile light arm is attached to the front. The puppets, made of carved wood and dressed (with painted clothes and two with textile garments), represent Death (skeleton) armed with his scythe, the Devil armed with his pitchfork, a policeman and five other characters, all male. The clothed figures have movable arms. A rod in the extension of the body animates the theater (each puppet is monoxyle, body and grip rod, for characters with painted clothes). DIY textile straps nailed to the back. Possibly Italy, late 19th/early 20th century Dimensions: H: 96 cm - W: 102 cm - D: 28.5 cm - Average height of a figure: 35 cm Condition: accidents, missing parts (including wormholes) and restorations.