Photography Three-Part Festive Arch Made From Paper

Photography Three-Part Festive Arch Made From Paper

CC BY-SA 4.0

CC BY-SA 4.0 europeana.eu

A black-and-white photograph showing a festive arch made in the traditional paper-cutting technique jianzhi 剪紙. Unlike the commemorative arches, which were made of wood or stone, these were intended for one-time use only and were cut out of red paper. They were removed after the end of the holiday period.

The decorative memorial triumphal arch pailou 牌樓 is otherwise a traditional architectural element in China, erected on special commemorative occasions and holidays. With its multi-part structure, the memorial triumphal arch straddles several parallel streets. Usually it has three passages; the main passage in the middle and two side passages. The more important the person or event was, the more passages the memorial triumphal arch had.

The photograph is the 125th of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred ... more

A black-and-white photograph showing a festive arch made in the traditional paper-cutting technique jianzhi 剪紙. Unlike the commemorative arches, which were made of wood or stone, these were intended for one-time use only and were cut out of red paper. They were removed after the end of the holiday period.

The decorative memorial triumphal arch pailou 牌樓 is otherwise a traditional architectural element in China, erected on special commemorative occasions and holidays. With its multi-part structure, the memorial triumphal arch straddles several parallel streets. Usually it has three passages; the main passage in the middle and two side passages. The more important the person or event was, the more passages the memorial triumphal arch had.

The photograph is the 125th of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to as Festpailou aus Papier. (DZ, MV)

Place of manufacture: Beijing
Manufacturing technique: black-and-white photograph
Dimensions: length: 13.5 cm, width: 8.5 cm
No. of parts: 1
Current owner: Slovene Ethnographic Museum
Date of the last acquisition: 1963
Previous owners and periods of ownership: Ivan Skušek, Jr. and Tsuneko Kondō Kawase - Marija Skušek, National Museum of Slovenia, Slovene Ethnographic Museum
Object condition, handling and damage: blue discolouration of black colour

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