Set of 36 Hand Painted Chinese (Beijing) Opera Facial Makeup Miniature Masks Box

Description

beijing opera facial makeup
CHINESE
BEIJING OPERA
FACIAL MAKEUP
HAND PAINTED
MINIATURE OPERA MASK
SET OF 36
"RETIREMENT SALE"
This sale is  for one used Set of 36 Hand Painted Chinese (Beijing) Opera Facial Makeup  Miniature Masks.  This is a collectors item and a must have to celebrate  Chinese New Year.  I inherited this set from my 94 year old Chinese  Father-in-Law.  He was born in Shanghai and spent several years of his life  under Japanese occupation.  He was a lifelong fan of Beijing opera.    He had to subscribe to Chinese satellite television stations to watch so that he  could watch hours of it every day.   I was unaware of this collection  until after his death, so I have no knowledge of its history.  I believe  that they are hand painted on porcelain or clay.  The box and every mask are in  excellent cosmetic condition.  My father-in-law had this collection stashed  away in a drawer for years.
The set comes in a cloth covered  reddish-orange rectangular box with a golden design which includes dragons.   The box securely closes with the help of a white clasp.  Due to the fabric  on the box I am unable to see the construction of the box, but it appears to be  something more solid than cardboard.  The top of the box measures  approximately 11 3/4 inches (30 cm) long by 3 7/8 inches (10 cm) wide.  The  top of the box has a single blue label with Chinese characters and English  script with the words "Jing Ju San Shi Liu Lian Pu".  The label measures 3  inches (8.8 cm) long by 3/4 inch (1.7 cm) wide.  Unopened the box is about  1 3/8 inches (3.5 cm) high.
The inside of the box is lined with a reddish  velvet-type fabric.  Each of the 36 masks is attached (probably glued) to  the red velvet lining.  Each mask has a small blue label with Chinese  characters.  I do not read Chinese so I do not know what the labels say.   Each mask is about 1 3/8 inches (3.5 cm) tall by 1 inch (2.5 cm0 wide.
Beijing Opera of China is a  national treasure with a history of 200 years. In the 55th year of the reign  of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1790) , the four big Huiban opera  Troupes entered the capital and combined with Kunqu opera, Yiyang opera,  Hanju opera and Luantan in Beijing's theoretical circle of the time. Over a  period of more than half a century of combination and integration of various  kinds of opera there evolved the present Beijing Opera. Beijing Opera is the  most significant of all operas in China, and it has a richness of  repertoire, great number of artists and audiences, that give it a profound  influence in China and plays a large role in Chinese culture.
Beijing Opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime,  acrobatic fighting and dancing to represent a story or depict different  characters and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow, happiness,  surprise, fear and sadness. The characters may be loyal or treacherous,  beautiful or ugly, good or bad, their images being vividly manifested.
Beijing Opera masks originates from totem in ancient times, develops into  facial paintings of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and eventually takes the  shape of facial costume of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is a pattern of  put-on facial make-up for opera actors and actresses in the stereotype roles  of "painted face" and clown. It plays the artistic functions of implying  commendatory and derogatory connotations and differentiating benevolence and  malevolence, enabling the audience to get a glimpse of the inner world of  actors and actresses through their symbolic facial make-up. In this sense,  facial make-up has obtained the reputation as "painting of heart and soul".
Red Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Guan Yu
Red indicates devotion, courage bravery, uprightness and loyalty. A typical  "red full face" is Guan Yu, general of the period of the Three Kingdoms  (220-280), famed for his faithfulness to his Emperor, Liu Bei.
Black Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Zhang Fe
Black symbolizes roughness and fierceness. The black face indicates either a  rough and bold character or an impartial and selfless personality. Typical  of the former are General Zhang Fei with a black cross butterfly face (of  the Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and Li Kui (of Water Margin), and of the  latter is Bao Gong (alias Bao Zheng), the semi-legendary fearless and  impartial judge of the Song Dynasty.
Yellow Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Tu Xingsun
Yellow signifies fierceness, ambition and cool-headedness. Shown is Tuxing  Sun with a yellow symbolic face, a dwarf general with special powers in the  opera "Three Mountain Pass."
Purple Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Hou Yi
Purple stands for uprightness, sophistication and cool-headedness. The  reddish-purple face likewise shows a just and noble character, for instance,  Hou Yi with a purple three-tile face was a grain officer versed in black  magic in the opera " Green Dragon Pass.
Blue Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Xia Houdun
Blue represents staunchness, fierceness and astuteness. Shown is Xiahou Dun  with a blue pointed three-tile face, Cao Cao's most trusted general in the  opera Bowang Slope."
White Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Cao Cao
White suggests sinisterness, treacherousness, suspiciousness and craftiness.  Commonly seen on the stage is the white face for the powerful villain. It  highlights all that is bad in human nature: cunning, craftiness, and  treachery. Typical characters are Cao Cao, powerful and cruel prime minister  in the time of the Three Kingdoms, and Qin Hui, treacherous Song Dynasty  prime minister who put the national hero Yue Fei to death. Cao Cao with a  watery white face is the leading character in the opera "Meeting of the  Elite."
Green Color
Chinese Opera Mask, Zheng Lun
A green face tells the audience that the character is impulsive and violent  and depicts surly stubbornness, impetuosity and a total lack of  self-restraint. Zheng Lun with a green pointed three-tile face plays a  general in the opera "Green Dragon Pass".
Please examine the pictures - this is the actual item that I will ship to  you.  If it is not in the pictures, it is not included in the sale.
I have retired  and moved from a  very large 5 bedroom house in New York to a very small 3 bedroom house in Florida with no basement  (attic and garage are too hot to store anything), so I must sell a lot of my  stuff.  I have several items in my art collection that I have no space to  hang or display, so I am selling these items so that someone else can enjoy.  Please help me adapt to a smaller house  and buy my well cared for things.  This item is from a smoke free  environment.
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