Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee

Chinaman Acrobat

Chinese acrobat acts are a tradition in the American circus since the late 1800s. The Chinese acrobat tradition goes back for centuries. The Schoenhut Chinaman acrobat followed one design throughout its life - a Chinese face (both 2-part and 1-part) with  a queue of early wooly material or later a  woven cloth material.

Photo by Jim Sneed

Two-part Head Chinese Acrobat

The early Chinamen acrobats were made with a two-part head made much like the two-part-head clowns Attached to the top of the head is a braided wool queue or a woven queue. Necks shapes can be either round as if made from a dowel, or tapered. The faces of the tapered neck ones resemble the shape of the clown's face. The eye pupils in at least some, if not all, of the two-part-head are not painted but appear to be a tiny applied piece of black paper.

Photo by Judith Lile

Photo by Judith Lile
This two-part head example features a woven wool queue and a tapered neck. The face shape resembles the two-part-head clowns face.

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed

One-part Head Chinese Acrobat

Later, the Chinese acrobat was produced with a one-part head, likely from the same molds as the one-part clown's head. His queue was made from woven cloth.

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed

This two-part head Chinaman features a woven queue.

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Norman Cole

Two-part Head