A boy and a lamp
Genies that float
Pantomime camp
And an infamous quote
"If you love art, folly or the bright eyes of a child*
Speed to Pollocks" - Mr RL Stevenson smiled
Christmas is silliness
Venice and circus
Also serious plays
Which are all in a day
A merry mash-up but hey
That's the toy theatre way
Lights and pink and festive cheer
Ssshhh... ALADDIN is here!...
...introducing the ALADDIN paper toy theatre!...
Get your ALADDIN paper toy theatre here
...ALADDIN needs no introduction. It’s the original rags-to-riches tale of a boy ragamuffin who is both lucky and smart and ends up marrying the Princess of his dreams. A story conjured in collaboration between Frenchman Antoine Galland and Syrian Maronite Hanna Diyab ensconced in a Chinese fairytale with all of imperial China as a backdrop…
…Everyone has their own relationship with ALADDIN. It’s a story. It’s countless picture books. It’s Christmas pantomimes and plays. It’s a Disney film. It was always, always, a toy theatre. And now I present it here again, repackaged with the depth and culture of imperial China and flavoured with my own memories of a childhood in Hong Kong, marinated in its own Arabian Nights juices...
Get ALADDIN
...Highly researched and intricate, scenic and character details are given their fullest expression with the trained hand of a miniature painter versed in European art and the toy theatre tradition as well as the specialised techniques of Indo-Persian and Mughal manuscript painting. Both are blended to scintillating effect in this toy theatre printed on limited edition, specially commissioned hand-tested paper – ideal for miniature painting on – to create a truly unique and delicious ALADDIN...
... ALADDIN itself is not strictly part of the 1001 Nights, though it falls under its spell. It is purportedly a tale told by Diyab to Galland recounting his lived experiences and journey to France, respun by Galland’s fertile imagination, interspersed with lively anecdotes of the Near East, inflected with the grandeur of Versailles and then transposed to China. It has always been popularly told around Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! May we finally fill the lull between Christmas and New Year with the toy theatre and stories. And this is one of the most famous stories of all: the tale of a boy and a lamp. There is no other - it has to be ALADDIN...
...Limited Edition of 101.
This ALADDIN toy theatre is a black and white, 'penny plain' toy theatre published by Pollocks Paper Theatres and Pollocks Toy Museum in the tradition of 'penny plain, twopence coloured'. In the past, people would buy the black and white toy theatres and colour them at home themselves.
A full-colour version is forthcoming for collectors; for the true toy theatre enthusiast part of the fun is the chance to paint a toy theatre and make it truly your own: https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk/product-page/aladdin-paper-toy-theatre
…This is a pre-order item. You can be one of the first people to buy this latest toy theatre for the Christmas and New Year season. Please note: for UK orders, I will try my best to ship it before Christmas. For International orders you will likely receive your toy theatre in the lull between Christmas and New Year (the ideal time to perform a toy theatre play as it happens!), or early in the New Year, so it can also serve as a New Year gift. Pollocks will be officially launching this in Spring 2024 so this is an extra special festive gift for now.
Shipping: the shipping costs reflect the nature of the item; it's A3 sized and will be sent as a parcel internationally. If you are from the EU, please use the code EUTOYTHEATRES for £10 off your shipping costs...
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..Your theatre comes complete with a full 8 pages of Scenes, Wings and Characters as well as detailed Instructions, Character Bios and a Synopsis Script Proposal for you to set up and perform your very own play. Full instructions and a video tutorial can be found here: https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk/watch - scroll down to see the video and read more.
If you would like to find out more about the details, extensive research and thinking and go 'behind the scenes' of the toy theatre, see here: https://www.vaishaliprazmari.com/toytheatres
If you would like to learn more about the fine art of Indo-Persian manuscript miniature painting, which is a technique you can use to paint your toy theatre, please visit: www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com
*"If you like art, folly or the bright eyes of children speed to Pollocks"... is what RL Stevenson actually said, and Pollocks officially launch my ALADDIN paper toy theatre in Spring next year....
Buy ALADDIN
More brushes and beautiful tools here
...Paper theatres, miniature theatres, model theatres and toy theatres allow you to play many roles. You can be an artist, architect, theatre director, costume and set designer, stage manager, FX supervisor and actor all in one. And you can even film and record your plays! If you do, I’d love to see so please do share and tag @vaishaliprazmari if so!
I think the ideal brushes to paint your black and white toy theatre can be found here: https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk/shop I recommend the Water brush for most of it, then the Rocks and Clouds series for the fine details.
If you're looking for a hassle-free Christmas gift that requires no postage, no wrapping and is in fact instant, why not give the gift of knowledge this year: here's the link to my Make a Carpet Page e-course. Once downloaded it's theirs to keep forever: https://vaishaliprazmaricarpetpage.thinkific.com/courses/make-a-carpet-page or purchase some easy-watching, relaxing painting films...
Watch painting films
Instructions to follow to make your own Carpet Page here
Book classes
...Toy theatres are having a bit of a moment: I spotted them in a few London Christmas windows this year (and London is the big stage's spiritual home - the Mongol Khan was fantastic at the Coliseum). I'm also not the only one to believe in Aladdin over Christmas. London's Hackney Empire did a fantastic Aladdin pantomime this year set in Hackney-la, a fictitious version of Hackney itself. My favourite part was when they sent Jasmine's father through a mangle to flatten him and he came out as a lifesize cardboard version of himself: their version of poor tailor's son Aladdin was transposed to a contemporary Hackney launderette.
Pantomime originated from Commedia dell'Arte. What else has roots in this venerable Italian tradition? Oh yes it is... toy theatres! And Harlequin and Pierrot and Columbine and Scaramouche and all your fandango-favourite clowns and acrobats and marginal figures and circus performers. Actual performance is a side I've yet to explore myself in my own toy theatre - this is for next year. I am coming from the visual arts side and approached my ALADDIN as a chance to stir yet something else into the heady mix that is the toy theatre: miniature painting on paper from the 'Orient', re-oriented in the paper theatre. We are still making many mini books, such as the hexagonal talismanic book above. This is the origin of manuscript painting and you can learn more here: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/book-online...
...Londoners, did you know that the Coliseum has a ceiling like this in its foyer? Next time you go, look up and appreciate the gold mosaics!
I've been soaking up lots of little toy theatre performances to get me in the mood. Bethnal Green's V&A Museum of Childhood, or 'Young V&A' as it now is, has a collection of small theatres on display, and a 'midi' sized one too. There's so much to talk about theatres, I could go on!
The monthly meeting link is also over at the Forum, which now is a real hub of information and you just need to scroll around or use the Search tool to find information. It's sorted into broad categories too. The Zoom link is via the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com or here's the direct link:
Topic: Vaishali Prazmari's Monthly Miniature Meeting 6pm -7pm London time
Time: Dec 19, 2023
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88656163288?pwd=KzNDWjlCT0UzUitOYkdNRkZGUEdFUT09
Meeting ID: 886 5616 3288
Passcode: 794271
Join by Skype for Business
https://us02web.zoom.us/skype/88656163288 ...
...We saw a Venetian midi theatre in London... then we went to Venice itself. Spot the Campanile in both photos - the right hand side is taken from the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, and my son spotted this golden hour moment. Venice is a very theatrical place. Even the synagogues in the old Jewish quarter look spectacularly dressed for the occasion. When you can, take the opportunity now to silently think about the people that have died in senseless wars on all sides (quick reminder that there are a few current wars now and not all make the news), and especially the women and children and men and babies and grandparents and maybe hope that crazy insecure leaders just duel with each other and leave everyone else out of it. Even better, play chess. Or such a long game of Go that they are stuck in a stalemate ceasefire for years and everyone else can rebuild their lives (actual Chinese legend). Churchill liked toy theatres. The idea, however, of military leaders manipulating small paper characters has a dark side. Theatre is also a form of education (a Danish theatre motto: 'not just for pleasure'). In Venice, every other shop you walk in sells puppets or theatres - although puppetry is a distinct and different art form to the paper toy theatres. Still, they both share the idea of a stage.
As chance would have it, there was an exhibition of miniature painting on ivory in Venice too. And the best paintings of all that I saw - I didn't get to see many as I was not alone - were circus performers on walls and ceilings by Giandomenico Tiepolo (not that Tiepolo) at Ca'Rezzonico, painted for his private pleasure and for his family. Whoohoo! Pulchinello! (a precursor to Punch and Judy which must only be famous in the UK... but that's another story, for summer)...
Page control: Pause and download free Geometry of the Page resources here
...and bums and babies and baby bums and Guggenheim sculptures that are pleased to see you. Well, one is actually a coco de mer nut housed in the cabinet of curiosities in Venice's Natural History Museum. I've twigged that when abroad, taking kids to natural history museums are a good bet. I used to think there was no real point as many cities have them, so focus on art instead - but natural history and science changes depending on the location, subtly, and they are a type of museum that is very kid-friendly. I made connections and learned things too. There was also an interactive exhibition of Leonardo's Machines (probably coming to a city near you soon... I've seen a few versions of these) that was excellent for kids. It's all about atmosphere and just soaking it all in and being confused by mirrors.
Did you know that Venetian street lamps were traditionally made with pink Murano glass? They really are unarguably pink. I saw this glass food feast at an exhibition at the Glass Museum showing Czech and Bohemian glass: those Czechs are famous for a few things: fantastic glass and a venerable theatre tradition are some of these. My part-Czech husband likes to remind me about these things if I bang on about Asia or western Europe too much. Those glass fried eggs are the best. I'm not the only one that likes small things in boxes that can be opened to reveal other worlds. Marcel Duchamp made this book in a box! I didn't know about this side of his work. Currently at the Guggenheim in Venice. Then we came home and watched the Box of Delights at the theatre - anyone remember John Masefield's story? It's not as famous as Peter Pan and Narnia BUT is important in the history of children's literature in English and paved the way for things like Narnia to happen.
I made a special, entirely bespoke limited edition of 1 toy theatre in pink paper for my youngest son. It doesn't come in pink - but if you would like yours to be pink all you have to do it paint it!...
...This red theatre is a kavad theatre from Rajasthan, India, seen at Young V&A. A wonderful student first introduced me to this form of theatre and I wish I had one - I also want to support these unique artisans and fellow theatre makers. One day! They're unique to one village in Rajasthan: Bassi. If anyone knows anything more about these, or has one, or has been there and seen it, I'd love to know more. What a brilliant heritage to have. This is not fine miniature painting seen close up in a manuscript. This is living breathing folk art for an audience that is combined with narration of a story - a painting brought to life. I love it!
Imagine being so steeped in your tradition that you grow up immersed in the stories told by night and eventually paint them by day, and even your surname reflects your membership of a craft heritage unique in the world. What inner security... though of course they have to survive 'outer precariousness' by selling enough of the theatres. This may also be why they don't bother with fine details: economics. They are perfectly CAPABLE of fine miniature-style art - they have the trained hands and eyes - they just don't have the demand for it. We need to give artists time and money and then see what beauty they can bring to the world. A Swiss collector did exactly that, by the way - he commissioned a kavad artist to paint the artist's own life story and look what happened. I can tell from the concentration on his face and the way he holds his brush that if he were given a little training and time he could paint miniatures. His art is as valuable as any painting in a gallery in my view. There is no high and low - there is only culture and [toy] theatre. More time! More time! We need more time!
We saw other paper theatre ephemera at Young V&A including the peepshow and harlequinade (precursors to the toy theatre). And then, I had a break and a bath with the kids... with a magic lamp bath bomb from Lush! So cool - you could actually lift the lid off the lamp, pour the loose sprinkles in the water, then drop in the lamp itself. Yes, I am a kid.
Whatever you celebrate, we can all agree that Christmas is about silliness and therefore made for kids big and small. Below are my silly kids and husband striking ridiculous poses in front of actually very nice old radiators and London's best Christmas tree (in Covent Garden, go see it). The eldest went IN a snowglobe. The youngest fell asleep on a throne, held by The King himself. Oh by the way - he likes it when I remind him how highly skilled he is at making books. So if you do see him, you would aid me greatly by kindly fanning these flames. Tell him how gorgeous his books are, and then he'll make me - and potentially you - more. Win-win!
We saw a very silly yet somehow profound theatrical installation of pink feathers attached to motors just wandering around London (the show hadn't officially opened yet but the gallery let us in... thinking we were someone else, or important people. That's happened before! We didn't let on as we don't like to disappoint). The Christmas party at the Embassy of Slovakia was not silly at all, it was lovely and merry and they showed us traditional folk dances which were beautiful. Maybe silliness at Christmas is only really a British thing after all. Or maybe it's just me...
See, the kids can be serious too. Here is one seriously engrossed in painting a paper theatre. The little one is my toy theatre buddy. A golden hour Venice pic and the obligatory gondola selfie. Psssst... this gondola cost 2 euros only - get a traghetto to ferry you from one side of the canal to the other. Traghetto gondolas are stationed at certain points across the city. I've been to Venice several times and only this time my friend, a local, told me about this. The full gondola experience is around 100 euros. You're welcome. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Enjoy the festive season! Get ready to fill in the lull between Christmas and New Year with toy theatres! (Delete as appropriate.)
Seriously yours,
Vaishali Prazmari
