Fangtie of Laosantai Huihui Tang Strings (suspected to be a fake, made in the late Qing Dynasty or the early years of the Republic of China)

After the Tongzhi period (1862-1874) of the Qing Dynasty, qin strings were sold under different names of the Huihui Tang brand. There were differences in the patterns of the advertisements on their wrappings. After the appearance of Huihui Tang by Lu Wenrong of Shaoxing during the Daoguang period (1821-1850), the patterns on its wrappings were copied by many different operators, including Laosantai, but under different trade names. In fact, all Huihui Tang Strings were fakes, except those made by the Li Shiying family.
The paper used for this wrapping of Laosantai Huihui Tang Strings is yukou paper, which is poorer in quality than the ma paper or xuan paper generally used. The printing is also poor and the colour has faded. Though the pattern is the same as that of Laosantai Huihui Tang Strings, it can be seen that the printing is not from the same wood block. This should be a fake, and is the first example of copying even the brand name.

<i>Fangtie</i> of Laosantai Huihui Tang Strings (suspected to be a fake, made in the late Qing Dynasty or the early years of the Republic of China) After the Tongzhi period (1862-1874) of the Qing Dynasty, <i>qin</i> strings were sold under different names of the Huihui Tang brand. There were differences in the patterns of the advertisements on their wrappings. After the appearance of Huihui Tang by Lu Wenrong of Shaoxing during the Daoguang period (1821-1850), the patterns on its wrappings were copied by many different operators, including Laosantai, but under different trade names. In fact, all Huihui Tang Strings were fakes, except those made by the Li Shiying family.<br>The paper used for this wrapping of Laosantai Huihui Tang Strings is <i>yukou</i> paper, which is poorer in quality than the <i>ma</i> paper or <i>xuan</i> paper generally used. The printing is also poor and the colour has faded. Though the pattern is the same as that of Laosantai Huihui Tang Strings, it can be seen that the printing is not from the same wood block. This should be a fake, and is the first example of copying even the brand name. Share