Chinese Paper-Cut Art Using Stamps

Several years ago I received a memento from my late Uncle, of two Oriental illustrations but didn't pay them too much attention. Some years later studying them close up, I found they were not painted as I assumed but were largely made with cut paper. Moreover, the paper is in fact stamps. Of the stamps used I can make out Hungarian, Russian and I think Chinese.

I contacted an Orientalist who can read both Chinese and Japanese and they said the characters in the top corners are Chinese. One image is called Floral Tribute and the other is called Four Stringed Lute. I believe my Uncle bought these in the 1950s in Hong Kong, a British colony at the time, on his way back to Australia after working overseas for a few years. The two illustrations could well have been made over the border in China. I don't know if they were solely for tourists or as art more generally. After some googling of trying to find similar artwork it seems cut paper is not a widespread craft, and I think these ones using stamps are singularly unusual.

Has anyone ever seen this style of art before using stamps? Since discovering how they are made they are now two of my favourite pictures.

They are stunning pieces of art. I've never seen anything like them before. Your Uncle had a good eye for art.

I've seen these off and on over the years. In an older Scott International album I have from a friend, the collector has taped in one of these artworks. I've been told that they were made for the tourist trade using used stamps cut up cleverly to create the colors, although other materials might also be used. Yours looks to have fabric, as well, which I haven't seen before. On yours, the used of stamps is more limited than I've seen on some others where much more is made up of stamps. Doing this must be very time consuming. Since there were a lot of these, I don't think they have a great deal of value -- but I'm no expert. They are certainly pretty and very clever. Try to keep them clean and away from dust, dirt, water, and so on which will damage them. If there's no glass with the picture frames, that might be worth considering. Or just wrap them up and store them in boxes.

The Australian Philatelist 1988
Note: The chair has a perfin NZIC New Zealand Insurance Co

Wow! These are amazing!

I like 'em.

agandau - Yes, I have. Scanned below from my collection is a watercolor postcard created by artists using cut-up postage stamps. I have several of these postcards in my collection. They were made in Hong Kong and elsewhere to sell to tourists. They are not rare, as they can be found selling on ebay all the time, but they are desirable and sought after by many postcard collectors. Each one is a unique piece of art. Check current ebay listings to look at more of them.

Linus

Another one from my collection.

Linus

One more, from my collection. I like this one, with a man wearing pants with the king on his "bum." Where have I seen this dude before? He looks familiar.

Linus

Thank you all for your replies, both appreciative and informative. I'm pleased to learn that this was a craft for the tourist market, and Linus' mention of Hong Kong.
DrewM, they were received framed and behind glass and are hanging on the wall. Thank you for your tips.

I don't really care about their value or lack of it; I'm just quite pleased with them. It was quite a creative original thought to have; 'I'll cut up stamps and make pictures'.
One thing I overlooked in my oriiginal post is that the illustrations are about the size of A4, or approx, 12½" x 8½"
Thanks again

These are incredible! I've never seen anything like it.

'
Are mine works in progress?

These are on plain postcard-size card stock, sans water-color accents or other embellishments.

I will leave it to others to name the subjects.

I will also leave it to others to tell me if it is correct to describe each of these as a "collage".

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (who yanked these out of a bargain box)

Each artist has their own "style" and this one is simple, yet well done. That was a very nice find, ikeyPikey, thanks for sharing it with us.

Linus

Those are beautiful! I can't believe how intricate. The artist must have had the patience of a saint!

... or a counterfeiter.

Ages ago, working a retail counter, a guy in a hurry dumped a crumpled-up twenty on the counter.

I accommodatingly made change, and off he went.

Mere seconds later, I uncrumpled the bill to find that (as the cops later explained) they cut three corners off of a twenty, add them to three one dollar bills and, presto, now they've got four twenties ... if they crumple them the right way, and run like hell.

Meticulous work, nicely done. The cops said that something along the lines of "We'll never need these as evidence, but the Secret Service like to see them to keep-up on things" and I, foolishly, let them have it.

Shoulda kept it , and mounted it in a small shadow box

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Here is another one I got a few weeks ago.

Linus