26. April 2025

Novartis is one of world’s largest pharma corporations and was formed in 1996 by the merger of Ciba-Geigy & Sandoz – originally three independent businesses all from the same small town of Basel, which is strategically located in Switzerland on the border to France and Germany. The surprisingly progressive 1929 calendar poster advertisement from our collection was produced for the most successful of these companies in China…

09. January 2023

"Once upon a time, on a fair and wondrous day, the brave King of the Franks did journey to the fabled land of Cathay. Resplendent in his ermine-trimmed robes, he arrived at the Imperial Palace in the celestial city of Beijing. There, he was greeted with the utmost reverence by the Son of Heaven, the august Emperor of China, who was attired in his finest silks and adorned with glittering jewels. When the two monarchs took their seats of honor, a hush fell over the court, for all knew that this...

21. March 2022

Various posters, postcards and product packaging from the MOFBA collection. Girl in pink Qipao is actress Liang Saishan 梁赛珊.

10. May 2021

Cut in the shape of a butterfly - "The cloth that never fades". The blue dye was discovered in 1901 by German chemical manufacturer BASF (later shareholder of the IG Farben conglomerate). BASF had been active in China since 1885 and Indanthrene dye immediately won great popularity among Chinese women who began to wear qipao dresses of such bright blue cotton fabric.