Vintage Chinese Advertising Hand Fans 1940s Paper Shanghai Tiger Balm Pair Rare For Sale

Two printed paper advertising fans from Republican-era Shanghai, late 1930s and 1940s. Fixed arrangement of fine bamboo ribs and a straight handle, with imagery on one side and commercial text on the other. One commemorates the fifth anniversary of Le Mao Yin Hao, a securities brokerage; the other promotes Tiger Brand Eng Aun Tong remedies, the maker of Tiger Balm, some 40-50 years before they came to the US. Both measure approximately 7.5" across and 13.25" long. Both fans are very sturdy but show a bit of age, details follow.

The advertising side pairs a woman in red with the brokerage name, Shanghai address, telephone numbers, and a fifth-anniversary gift inscription. The reverse shows a woman looking into a garden beneath an openwork section that reveals the bamboo lattice. Fibrous paper, narrow applied binding around the edge and an embossed paper guard at the base.

• Even age toning, localized foxing and surface wear, with scattered light losses to the garden-side image.
• Localized chipping along the outer edge and varying wear or loss to its narrow paper binding. The garden cutwork is intentional; some adjoining paper is also worn or lost.
• Dark spots on the embossed paper guard. The painted handle has areas of chipped, fragile paint, particularly along its edges and one side.

Printed garden landscape with a metallic-finished paper guard at the base on face. The reverse advertises Tiger Brand Eng Aun Tong's Tiger Balm and other remedies, including headache powder, with period claims about their uses. The little round of characters in red below the text credit the Shanghai Shengsheng Fine Arts Company. A short cord remains attached to the handle; its originality is undetermined.

• Even age toning, localized foxing and light spotting on the paper.
• Considerable wear and loss to the metallic finish on the applied center guard.

Both fans remain structurally sound, with firmly mounted handles, and are still functional. No obvious differential fading from display is apparent. Please review the photographs for the paper edges and surface details.

Ships wrapped with acid-free tissue and dense foam, with archival backers, in an oversized mailer or shallow box to prevent bending in transit. Ships by USPS, UPS, or FedEx Ground, typically within one business day. Rates to Alaska and Hawaii differ from the continental US. International shipping is available through 's Global Shipping Program.

We located some details on Le Mao, the brokerage on the fan, started by Lin Legeng. In a 2009 interview he mentioned opening the company in 1937. That would put this fan's celebration of 5 years in business in 1942, the closest thing have to a date on the fan. There's also a record of an interview he gave in 1991 where he showed a fan (different than this) to a reporter and said they were given away as promotions to his clients. source: news.cnstock.com

Tiger Brand Eng Aun Tong was the original company behind Tiger Balm and operated a pharmacy in Shanghai during this period. The landscape fan bears an inscription beginning “己卯春日,” referring to spring 1939; that dates the artwork or inscription, rather than proving when this example was assembled but it gets us close. Tiger Balm entered the mainstream United States market decades later, in 1986. source:Shanghai municipal cultural heritage information on the Eng Aun Tong pharmacy; and Tiger Balm's United States distributor history.