A CARVED WOOD FIGURE OF A MALE HEAD AND A DOLL OF A STANDING FEMALE, RAJASTHAN, 19TH CENTURY

A. The male head depicted with a full beard and hat, remnants of polychrome decoration, a handle or stand extending below
B. The doll of a standing female, formerly with arms and now lacking feet, traces of polychrome decoration

The head: signficant losses to polychrome decoration and losses and wear to extremities The doll: formerly with arms, feet missing from ankles, signficant losses of painted decoration. As viewed.
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It would seem most likely that the head comes from a string puppet, kathputli, of a type used in Rajasthan. The puppet is completed by elaborate and colourful clothing. Itinerant puppet theatres in this region are associated with the Bhat community of poets. They moved around the area entertaining people with renditions of heroic tales of Rajput warrior kings such as Amar Singh Rathore and the story of the unrequited love of Dhola and Maru (Jain and Aggarwala 1989, p.208).

The remaining painted decoration of the face of the doll is highly reminiscent of the depiction of women in the miniature painting tradition of Kishangarh.