The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Ink Cake with Wang Ziqiao

Ink Cake with Wang Ziqiao

c. 1600s

attributed to Fang Yulu

(Chinese, active c. 1570–1619)
China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) - Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Molded ink and gold pigment
Diameter: 5.4 cm (2 1/8 in.)
Gift of Henry W. Kent 1942.233
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The front, back, and sides of this ink cake are partially gilded.

Description

Ink cakes were dissolved with water to be used for writing and painting. This ink cake depicts the immortal Wang Ziqiao riding a crane and playing a sheng (wind instrument with reeds). Legend says that he was a prince who became a Daoist immortal.

The design was likely borrowed from an illustrated Ming dynasty book on Daoist immortals printed in Anhui, the Liexian Quanzhuan. Ink cakes using Fang Yulu’s name, a famous ink maker in Huizhou, Anhui province, may just as well be products of followers who aspired to profit from his fame. His greatest local rival was his former mentor Cheng Dayue (1541–after 1610).
  • ?–1942
    Henry W. Kent [1866–1948], given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1942–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hollis, Howard. “A Gift of Chinese Inks.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 33, no. 1 (January 1946): 3–5, 11. Mentioned: p. 3-5; Reproduced: p. 11 www.jstor.org
    Little, Stephen. Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China: the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 10-April 10, 1988. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988. cat. no. 22
    Li, T. June, and Suzanne E. Wright. Garden, Art and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints. San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 132–133, cat. no. 33
  • China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).
    Garden, Art, and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA (organizer) (September 17, 2016-January 9, 2017).
    Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 10, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Ink Cake with Wang Ziqiao|url=false|author=Fang Yulu|year=c. 1600s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.233