Boxed set of gold bars, from set of funerary offerings

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This box of gold bars, bought from a funerary goods supplier in Singapore, is from a boxed set of paper and cardboard offerings for a man. The offerings represent symbolic possessions for the afterlife, and include various types of currency, for bribes.

This presentation, cellophane-wrapped cardboard box containing five bars of simulated gold wrapped in gold paper, is labelled '999.9' to indicate its supposed purity, and is also labelled in Chinese characters.

These symbolic possessions are burned in a night-time Daoist funerary ceremony, several weeks after the deceased's cremation. It is a widespread contemporary tradition in south-east Asia. The cardboard items are burned to ensure a comfortable afterlife.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-104-916-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  K.1999.1173
• Date: 1999
  
• Material: Card, red; card, gold
  Box / gold bar
  
• Dimensions: 18 mm H x 106 mm L x 134 mm W
  
• What: Box / gold bar
  
• Subject: Paper offering
  
• Who:
• Where: Singapore
  
• Event:
• Description: Red card box containing five gold bars, part of paper offerings for a man, which would be burnt at the graveside as an offering for ancestors: Singapore, 1999
  
• References:
• Translations:
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