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Mao badge from Beijing
More Context
Round, 3.95 cm. diam. gold head-to-collar mao in a plain-ground red circle offset towards the top, with fine starburst ruby ground surrounding Mao. Mao floats above a scene done in 1-point perspective with a central tree (willow?) in an empty courtyard with 2 arms of a 2-story building coming out towards the viewer; the backdrop to each side = terraced hillsides (architecture?), with flags (in red) on distant peaks. The gable ends of 2 projecting buildings = lacquered red & have identical characters, “大忠”. Just below the gables = red ribbon-like structure that can also be read as a compound wall. Central portion of thwhich says: “毛主席万岁万万岁”. Back: small oval indentation; clasp at center. 3 lines of inscription below the indentation: 1 (top, in larger characters): “毛主席万岁万万岁” ; 2 (in tiny characters): “北京” ; 3 (tiny 字): “红旗证章厂”.
Information
–2009 Collection of Zhang Hongtu (Woodside, NY), by gift to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2009.