ink cake

Moulded green ink cake in the shape of a bronze statue with the Buddha and flame of the mandorla painted in gilt. Raised inscriptions of the supervisor's name, Li Ting-wa, on obverse. Production date on side reading 'Made in the 3rd year of the Jiaqing period', which is equivalent to 1798. The reverse read 'Lueyuan zhuren jingzhi', meaning 'made by the master of Lueyuan'. Impressed inscriptions executed in gilt are also on reverse, reading 'Made in the 18th day of the 1st lunar month of the 5th year of the Tiantong reign', which explains a mid-6th century Buddha statue as the source of pictorial design of this ink cake.

Coloured ink cake was ground with water on an ink stone to produce watercolour for painting.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
25.11.48/16
Date
1798
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 103 mm x 43 mm x 11 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
ink; gilding
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
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Collection Information

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