ID Number

Title

Item Name

Culture

Date Made

Place Made

Date Owned

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

Measurements

Item Classes

Condition

Accession Number

Description

A circular label with rice paper backing and gold leaf background. A male figure in a green robe kneels before a female figure in a white robe who is extending her right hand to him. In the background, there are pink, orange and purple mountains, a green body of water, and colourful swirls above the mountains representing clouds. There is a god-like figure wearing a purple robe in the upper right corner with his arms raised and hands placed together. In the body of water is a tall white, orange and green pagoda. In the foreground are flowers and plants in many colours. The entire image has a blue scallop border. On the back is a stamp that reads, "Fatshan Lai Wo Cheong Made In China".

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 image likely depicts the “Legend of the White Snake,” a famous folk tale in China that recounts the story of how a white snake spirit transforms into a beautiful woman to experience love, the greatest of all human emotions. She meets the gentleman Xu Xian and marries him. When her secret is revealed in a twist of events, a Buddhist Abbot named Fa Hai succeeds in capturing her spirit inside the Thunder Pagoda. In the image, the kneeling man in green robes is Xu Xian. He appears to be proposing to the crowned maiden in a white skirt, the human form of the White Snake spirit. In the center of the background, we see the Thunder Pagoda rising towards the sky. A sun, inscribed with the Chinese character for “day” hovers in the sky amongst colourful clouds. In the upper right, we see a holy figure with clasped hands descending from the hills. Judging by his robes and cap, this figure is likely Fa Hai approaching the scene to capture the White Snake spirit. The story conveys both the power of love and the fragile boundaries between the human and spirit realms.

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.