Old Paper Cuts

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Paper cuts rank among the most common and plentiful of artefacts used at Chinese offerings and celebrations of all kinds. The only one to exceed them in quantity is the joss paper. We have a very limited number of the latter in the collection among which there may well be interesting pieces, collected in Hong Kong during the late 1970s.

Used as offerings to Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors, paper cuts are traditionally used at temple and other places of worship. The most well known must be the so-called ‘Door-Gods’ at the entrance of a house, which are replaced each Lunar New Year, but they are also used in a domestic environment; as door gods, kitchen god and at Lunar New Year activities.

A great variety is used for as many different occasions. Used often in pairs, one the mirror image of the other.