Lucky Little Silver Men
#1
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#2
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#3
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#4
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#5
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#6
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#7
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#8 |
#9
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#10
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#11 |
- For new born baby in addition to Good Luck Silver
Sycee and Silver
Lockers shown little silver men were also widely chosen by Chinese in the
old time as suitable presents for celebration.
- Little silver men were featured from the characters of Chinese fairy
tales. People used them as hat decorates of new babies, hoped to bring them
lucks.
- Little silver men were also made of silver, some of them had been
guaranteed (#11), but a few of them have less purity or even just silver
plated coppers, for poor people could only so to afford. After 1933 purity
of silver accessories were limited by the law set forth by then government
and not exceed 30%.
- Those silver pieces were not accomplished by die-casting. The only
mechanism used by silversmiths - molds, bearing simple features of the
little men. After getting the prototype of the little men silversmiths had
to rely on their hands to engrave all the details which made them look so
vivid. It has been one of the Chinese inherent folk arts from long time ago.
- Every little men are smiling, but any two of their smiles would
never look same. Silversmiths from time to time showing their senses of
humors by making the little men smile differently, which are very funny and
interesting, for example, the smile of a drunken Lo-han (#5), the smile of a
fat Yuan Wai¾ (the rich man, #2) ...
A Silver Sycee Review