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Description

Firecracker paper composed of coloured papers adhered to the back of a piece of cut gold paper to form a stained glass-like design with a red seal-like design at the bottom centre, a yellow and red butterfly design at the top centre, and two pink, yellow and off-white butterflies at the sides.

Specific Techniques

Gold labels were handmade in workshops using assembly line techniques. Artisans first cut out the labels' overall shape from bronze or copper foil. Next, they apply a thin rice paper backing to strengthen the foil. To texturize the foil, the artisans used pointed tools to emboss designs. These sheets were pinned to a wall or table so that several painters could work on them. The backgrounds would be painted first, followed by the details in the foreground using smaller brushes. During the last application, even finer brushes were used for the facial features and calligraphy. Some shiny areas of the original bronze or copper foil were left exposed. It was also common to add a layer of gold leaf designs, pressed out of hand-carved wooden blocks, to further accentuate the design.

Iconographic Meaning

This firecracker label is cut in a shape that resembles a traditional collar, such as those worn by elites or immortals in Cantonese opera. There are many geometric cut-outs to enhance the design and there is a gold-foil application to the border. Within this symmetrical design, we see three butterflies. Butterflies are a rebus sign for “prosperity” and “longevity.” The character for “butterfly” (hu die) serves as a rhyming pun for “prosperity” (fu) and indicates long life beyond one’s “seventies or eighties” (die). The sound “die” is also a homophone for the verb “to accumulate” or “to pile up,” indicating greater prosperity and long life. In the center bottom portion, we see a red oval with the gold symbol for longevity, hanging like a pendant on the collar. As a firecracker label, this image indicates auspiciousness, prosperity, and longevity for the Lunar New Year.

History Of Use

Invented in China around the 12th century or earlier, firecrackers have been widely used in China to serve a variety of religious and secular purposes. In both the past and present, firecrackers are used to ward off evil spirits, to honour spirits and deities, and to mark special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, funerals, shop openings, or festivals. Firecrackers are by far in greatest demand during the annual Lunar New Year, when they are ignited to purify a space and to blast away negative energies and demons. Firecrackers are also used in “fengshui” geomantic practices, as ritual objects to be hung in the home to stimulate new beginnings, prosperity, and the protection of the household. A large number of gold firecracker labels were produced from approximately 1850-1910, in the Guangdong region of southern China, to decorate the wooden crates that they were shipped in. Since many of these were produced in Foshan (Fatshan), a city noted for its manufacture of handmade ritual goods, collectors often refer to them as “Fat Shan” labels. The characteristic "gold" effect is produced from bronze or copper sheets and gold leaf, and is recognized as a speciality of Foshan. They range in size from smaller four-inch squares to larger circular labels with a twenty-four inch diameter. The gold labels are colourfully painted with auspicious themes, including depictions of deities, legends and myths, historical narratives, and scenes of everyday life. The images enhance the fireworks’ role in dispelling evil while attracting virtue and prosperity. These gold labels were widely sold in south-central and south-west China, and south-east Asia. Local manufacturers and merchants would order bulk firecrackers, pack them into wooden crates, and decorate the crates with these labels to entice potential distributors and consumers. Aside from their use as firecracker labels, many people in south China used the labels to decorate their rooms and utensils. Few labels survived to today because of their fragility and the small value placed on them at the time. After 1910, these painstaking production techniques were gradually replaced by lithography machines, which allowed artisans to print full colour labels on rice paper.