Block for Printing "Longevity" Spirit Money, from Taiwan / Artist Unknown Taiwan

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Record Details

Accession Number
2006/2.41.1
Title
Block for Printing "Longevity" Spirit Money, from Taiwan
Artist Nationality
Taiwanese
Medium and Support
carved wood
Object Creation Date
late 20th century
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
Taiwan (nation)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
Taiwan (nation)
Dimensions
11.4 cm x 10.7 cm x 1.2 cm (4 1/2 in. x 4 3/16 in. x 1/2 in.)
Century
20th century
Primary Object Classification
Wood and Woodcarving
Primary Object Type
printing block
Physical Description
Wooden block painted cinnabar red with a carved floral design framing an inner square that contains six characters in the top and lower right, center, and left corners and a large character in the middle (“longevity”) with an image of two coins suspended from the wings of a stylized bat in the lower center.
Subject Matter
Block for printing “longevity” money, which was used exclusively in the worship of deities to celebrate their birthdays, or as a means of thanking them for blessings already bestowed, or to ask for long life or other benefits. In addition to the large character for “longevity” in the center, the four characters at the top right, center, left, and at the lower margin express wishes for sons, emolument, wealth, and honor. A “double happiness” character is in each lower corner. Two coins are suspended from the wings of a stylized bat, a symbol of happiness because the pronunciation of the character for “bat’ (fu) is identical to that for happiness. To produce the “spirit money,” the carved images would be printed in red over a patch of gold foil placed on top of a wide orange-colored swatch painted on coarse paper.
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
3000 x 2742
File Size
1 MB
Record
2006/2.41.1
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2006-sl-2.41.1/2006_2.41.1.jpg

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Full citation
"Block for Printing "Longevity" Spirit Money, from Taiwan; Artist Unknown Taiwan." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2006-sl-2.41.1/2006_2.41.1.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.
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