Chinese Printing Block Advertising Medications

AGE: – Unknown – Likely first half of 20th century
CONSTRUCTION: – Wood and metal
HEIGHT: – 22.7cm
WIDTH: – 13cm
DEPTH: – 2.5cm
WEIGHT: – 650gms
#206 – PRICE: CONTACT

Antique Chinese Printing Block Advertising Medications with metal plate Type Text is related to medicinal advertising, likely to be Chinese herbal medicine, written in Chinese characters. This block was probably commissioned by a medical company to place advertisements in publications of the times. Unlike this similar printing block, which has both English and Chinese there is no English to explain exactly what they are advertising.

Metal Plate Printing Block made from Plaster Cast

This particular type of printing block may have been made using a plaster cast and could have been made in China, Malaysia, or Singapore, we tend to lean more towards Malaysia or Singapore because of the English-speaking expatriates who lived there at the turn of the 20th century and the large population of migrants from China.

Referenced:
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book
edited by James Raven

At the beginning of the 19th century, Lord Stanhope developed a printing press made of metal which allowed for large-format printing, he also contributed to the commercial success of the stereotyping process, that is — printing from a solid plate of type metal cast from plaster.
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