Title
Badge featuring Mao
Year/Period
Late 1960s
Region
China
Object Type
Material
Dimension
Object size: Dia: 7.5
Accession No.
1997-04942
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr Xu Cheng Bin
This badge features an outline of Mao with a foliage motif at the bottom edge. Huge numbers of badges were produced at the height of the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1969. Materials ranging from plastic and bamboo to gold were used to manufacture badges, but aluminium was by far the most common material. Although our display features quite a number of porcelain badges, these were actually produced for only a short span of time (about a year). Their fragility may have contributed to the decline in their production. The majority of badges feature Mao’s left profile, which was intended as a symbol of his leftist beliefs.
