The "Two Girls" of Kwong Sang Hong Limited, founded in 1898 by Mr. Fon Fook Tien, was the first cosmetics brand in Hong Kong. The brand started promoting its products using printed materials as early as the 1920s. Kwan Wai-nung, the renowned "Master of Calendar Posters", was commissioned to draw calendar posters which were well received by the customers.
The "Two Girls" of Kwong Sang Hong Limited, founded in 1898 by Mr. Fon Fook Tien, was the first cosmetics brand in Hong Kong. The brand started promoting its products using printed materials as early as the 1920s. Kwan Wai-nung, the renowned "Master of Calendar Posters", was commissioned to draw calendar posters which were well received by the customers.
The "Two Girls" of Kwong Sang Hong Limited, founded in 1898 by Mr. Fon Fook Tien, was the first cosmetics brand in Hong Kong. The brand started promoting its products using printed material in as early as the 1920s. Kwan Wai-nung, the renowned "Master of Calendar Posters", was commissioned to draw calendar posters which were well received by the customers.
Scott's Emulsion was founded in 1860 in the UK. Kwan reproduced a more appealing design based on its original trademark - a fisherman holding a fresh catch of big cod against a coastal background - featuring clean, sleek strokes, vivid colours and a catchy slogan.
The large number of calendar posters produced by Kwan bewteen the 1920s and 1930s made him the most sought-after local calendar poster painter in Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia. According to an advertisement published in Nanqiang Daily dated 21 March 1929, several tens of thousands of Tien Sau Tong's calendar posters were snapped up in just a matter of months, pending reprints. The theme of this poster is "Heavenly Goddess". Kwan captured the feminine beauty of the goddess and her flowing garment with fine lines and strokes. The combination of Ju Lian's techniques of "zhuangshui" (water infusion) and "zhuangfen" (powder infusion) creates a natural blends of watercolour and ink, creating a life-like, mesmerizing flying goddess.
Traditional Chinese portriature attaches high importance to both "likeness and spirit" manifested by precise and clean strokes. Upholding this principle, most calendar poster painters created images of beauties with a sense of restrained grace. Female garments usually reflected the life of people at that time. The lady in this poster wore a relatively traditionally-styled high-necked cheongsam. The loosely-fit cheongsam in muted colours features long and wide sleeves, concealing the feminine curves.
In the late Qing Dynasty, Chinese women were still bound by the feudal concepts of "fidelity" and "virtue". They believed that only women of the working class had large feet and ample breasts and hips. Feet and breast binding were very common in those days. The lady in the poster donned a kimono-style long dress with a breast-binding top. The poster was inspired by daily life and captured the moment when the lady came home with a basket in hand.
In bringing together Western and Chinese techniques, Kwan Wai-nung applied the techniques of chiaroscuro and perspective in this painting. The crisp lines gave the heptachord, the table on which the teapot was set, and the screen at the back a three-dimensional sense. A sense-of-depth was successfully created by the clever arrangement of the objects. Chiaroscuro was applied on the attire of the male servant, creating a realistic scene using the sharp shadows.
Asiatic Petroleum Company was incorporated in London in 1903. It was a joint venture between the UK-based Shell Transport and Trading Company and The Royal Dutch Petroleum Company. Headquartered in London, the Company had subsidaries across five continents. It set up its Hong Kong branch Asiatic Petroleum Co (South China), Ltd. in 1906.
Established in 1907, Wing On Co. Ltd was one of the largest and most popular chain department stores in early Hong Kong. The calendar poster drawn by Kwan for Wing On was a head portrait of a beautiful lady. No products were portrayed; the emphasis was on feminine purity and elegance. The background was left blank and the composition was simple. Mastering the Western watercolour technique, Kwan focused on light, soft strokes punctuated with subtle variations to highlight the supple and fair skin.
Beginning in the 1930s, a great wave of change came about in women's fashion in Hong Kong. The modern beauty in the poster was dressed in Western style, with a lace-sleeve blouse and an airy skirt, highlighting her graceful figure. The chair, cushion and the sculpture were all in European style.
The vivid colours used in the poster was an indication of the increasingly advanced chromolithography technologies at the time. From the posture of the lady, the reflection in the mirror to the settings in the backdrop, it was obvious that Kwan Wai-nung, having learnt Western painting since childhood, had mastered the Western perspective technique in producing the sophisticated layers and space. The poster displayed a range of products at the bottom, an example of direct promotion.
The lady in the poster was drawing the promotion poster for The Tiger Medical Hall, Eng Aun Tong. Kwan's composition of "a picture in a picture" was innovative. He also demostrated the independence and artistic talent of women at that time in this poster.
Beginning in the 1930s, a great wave of change came about in women's fashion in Hong Kong. The modern beauty in the poster was dressed in Western style, with a lace-sleeve blouse highlighting her graceful figure. The furniture was also in European style.
A.S. Watson was formerly known as Canton Dispensary, which opened in Guangzhou in 1828. It set up Hong Kong Dispensary in 1841 in Hong Kong, which was renamed A.S. Watson & Company in 1871. In 1875, A.S. Watson opened the first beverage factory in Hong Kong on Stanley Street, and also produced over-the-counter drugs, cosmetics and perfume. In the 1900s, A.S. Watson followed the traditional style of Chinese New Year paintings and produced a collection of calendar posters featuring auspicious wordings and figures, and were well received by the public.
