"Yoki-sapil" - a device for transmitting the voices of dolls

Uzbek

Turkestan Krai, Syr-Darya Oblast, city Tashkent

late 19th century

Cotton textile, wood, cotton thread, leather

РЭМ 1313-49/1

The puppeteers themselves could provide the voices, or in marionette theaters, this was done by a korparmon ("manager"), who stood outside the stage. A special instrument, the yoki sapil (safil), was used, consisting of curved wooden plates with a straw membrane (safil). This allowed the puppets to speak with different "puppet" voices depending on the pitch of the safil's membrane.