Iranian early traditional glove puppetry. Khom bazi (“vat” play), according to theatre historian Medjid Rezvani, was a puppet show in which the puppeteer played from inside a circular sheath of wood and cloth that hid the performer’s body beneath as he manipulated the figures above.

Bahram Beyzaie, in Namayesh dar Iran (A Study on Iranian Theatre, pp. 103-104), writes: “The performer switched from figure to figure, using many puppets and showing great skill. The 17th century scholar, secretary to the German ambassador to the Shah of Persia, Adam Oléarius, saw this show in Iran in the 1630s. In the past the puppeteer was inside a vat (khom) and from there he pulled out the puppets giving the form its name.”

(See Iran.)