“Lingnan Craftsmanship - Guangcai (The Canton Famille Rose Porcelain) Making Technique” Special Stamps

Guangcai, the shortened form of “Guangzhou painted porcelain” or “Canton Famille Rose Porcelain”, is one of the traditional craftsmanship of Lingnan culture. It involves painting patterns on pre-glazed white porcelain, followed by a secondary firing. The technique dates back to the early Qing dynasty and was transmitted from Guangzhou to Hong Kong in the 1920s. In addition to conserving the traditional hand-painting technique and auspicious patterns, Guangcai produced in Hong Kong also incorporates local painting techniques and special motifs, hence the name Gangcai (“Hong Kong painted porcelain”). The Guangcai making technique was inscribed onto the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong in 2024.  Hongkong Post issues special stamps on the theme of “Lingnan Craftsmanship – Guangcai (The Canton Famille Rose Porcelain) Making Technique” to promote Lingnan craftsmanship and local intangible cultural heritage, showcasing the finesse of Hong Kong artisans that has been passed down through generations.

Acknowledgement: Intangible Cultural Heritage Office and Yuet Tung China Works

Hongkong Post issues a set of four stamps and two stamp sheetlets on the theme of “Lingnan Craftsmanship – Guangcai (The Canton Famille Rose Porcelain) Making Technique” to showcase the handicrafts and processes commonly seen in the Guangcai making technique as well as some representative classic patterns. While each of the four stamps can be individually appreciated for the intricate details of various Guangcai techniques, they can also be combined to reveal the complete design of a porcelain piece—a round rim plate in the Bogu style (“Bogu” means antiquities) featuring gilded figures.

$2.40 Stamp – Outlining Patterns
Guangcai is traditionally divided into two parts: the border and the centre. Guangcai craftsmen design compositions based on the shapes of the blanks—plain white porcelain bodies. Once a design is finalised, they trace the patterns onto the porcelain surface with black pigment, a step known as “outlining patterns”. The stamp illustrates a Guangcai master meticulously executing this step, stroke by stroke, to create the contours and lay a precise foundation for subsequent processes.

$4.20 Stamp – Colour Shading
“Colour shading” is a porcelain painting technique used to create gradient shades. It requires two paintbrushes: one to dip and apply the colour and the other to spread and blend the pigment, achieving the vibrant yet elegant charm unique to Guangcai. The stamp depicts a Guangcai master carrying out the process, controlling brush pressure and water content to render natural gradient tones of varying depths and intensities on the blank.

$5.70 Stamp – Line Banding
“Line banding”, referring to drawing a neat, consistent circular line along the rim of a blank, is a step in the Guangcai production that demands particular precision. This process is deceptively simple; it tests the craftsman’s steadiness, as the line must be drawn in one stroke. The stamp showcases a Guangcai master rotating a porcelain cup while gently pressing its rim with the brush tip, applying even pressure to produce a smooth and perfect circle.

$5.80 Stamp – Kiln Firing
Guangcai belongs to the category of overglaze enamel porcelain, and painted porcelain must be loaded into kilns for firing. Craftsmen must precisely control the kiln temperature to allow the pigments on the glaze to burst into brilliant, dazzling lustre under intense heat. The stamp depicts a Guangcai master neatly arranging porcelain pieces inside an electric kiln, which is commonly used in modern times; after firing, the pieces reveal a richly layered, vitrified glaze.

$10 Stamp Sheetlet
The stamp sheetlet showcases a classic, traditional Guangcai design: fighting roosters and a brocade border. The imposing and valiant fighting roosters in the porcelain painting are accompanied by pak choi, or Chinese white cabbage, which symbolises an abundance of wealth, as “pak choi” sounds like “fat choy” (meaning to make a fortune) in Cantonese. The stamp sheetlet also features the rich and vivid pigments used in Guangcai. Mostly formulated from mineral powders, these pigments fuse with the porcelain surface during high-temperature firing. They produce a glassy lustre that gives the entire piece an even smoother finish, fully demonstrating the dazzling beauty of Guangcai craftsmanship.

$20 Stamp Sheetlet
The stamp sheetlet features “Rose Medallion”, a Guangcai composition brimming with Lingnan characteristics. Its distinctive layout of interlocking motifs has made it an enduring classic pattern in Guangcai. “Rose Medallion” is named after the prominent circle positioned right at the centre of the composition. Inside this circle, a Canton rose is painted as the primary motif, while the surrounding fingernail-shaped panels are decorated with flowers and birds. Adorned with gilt, the overall composition is dense and magnificent, perfectly embodying the splendour and grandeur of Guangcai.

The stamp sheetlet also displays the essential tools for every Guangcai craftsman: an armrest box and paintbrushes. Armrest boxes are used to support their hands, effectively relieving fatigue during long hours of painting and ensuring their stable and fluid brushstrokes. Moreover, the round rim plate featured on the stamp sheetlet is specially printed with spot varnishing to mimic the glossy surface of porcelain and add a three-dimensional effect, enabling viewers to better appreciate the warmth and translucency of Guangcai porcelain, as well as the beauty of its craftsmanship.

Official first day covers will be put on sale at $2.5 each at all post offices from 3 September 2026. Advance orders for servicing self-provided covers will be accepted at all philatelic offices from 3 to 9 September 2026.

Stamp products include mint stamps, stamp sheets, stamp sheetlets, mini-pane, presentation pack and serviced first day cover. Serviced first day cover will be available at all philatelic offices only.

Date-stamping Arrangements

• A hand-back date-stamping service with the office date-stamp and the special postmarks will be provided on 17 September 2026 at all post offices for official first day covers/souvenir covers/privately made covers bearing the first day of issue indication and a local address. All philatelic offices will also provide “Philatelic Bureau” pictorial postmark and its respective philatelic office pictorial postmark. The GPO-1 date-stamp impression will only be available at the General Post Office.

• All stamp products will be available at all post offices starting from 17 September 2026 for 3 months while stock lasts.

• All stamp products will be available at Hongkong Post’s online shopping platform ShopThruPost (website: shopthrupost.hongkongpost.hk) starting from 17 September 2026 at 8:00 a.m. for 6 months, while stock lasts.