The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Ink Stick from an Imperially Commissioned Set of Ink Stick with Images and Poems of Famous West Lake Sites
1780–94
(1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
Overall: 6.4 x 4.8 cm (2 1/2 x 1 7/8 in.)
Gift of Henry W. Kent 1942.215.4
Location: not on view
Description
This is one of ten ink cakes of different shapes and colors stored in an exquisite lacquer box. Each is inscribed in gold with a poem by the Qianlong emperor, praising the ten famous sights of the Westlake in Hangzhou, near Shanghai. The Westlake is famous for its natural beauty; it was a favorite imperial destination and remains a tourist attraction today.Ink cakes (also called ink sticks) are dissolved with the addition of water and ground on the surface of a flat stone into liquid ink for painting and calligraphy. The precious ink cakes here, however, have never been used.
- ?–1942Henry W. Kent [1866–1948], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1942–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Wang Chi-chien. "Notes on Chinese Ink." Metropolitan Museum Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Dec., 1930), pp. 114-133 Reproduced: pp. 114-133, fig. 14 www.jstor.orgHollis, Howard. "A Gift of Chinese Inks." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan., 1946), pp. 3-5, 11. Mentioned: pp. 3-5, 11 www.jstor.org
- Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 13, 2018-February 3, 2019).History of The Chinese Book. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (organizer) (April 1-May 15, 1967).
- {{cite web|title=Ink Stick from an Imperially Commissioned Set of Ink Stick with Images and Poems of Famous West Lake Sites|url=false|author=|year=1780–94|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.215.4