Box with Ink Cakes: Green Ink Cake in Shape of Coiled Dragon
1795–1820
- Medium
- Molded ink in green
- Dimensions
- Case: 26.4 x 19.1 cm (10 3/8 x 7 1/2 in.); Lid: 26.5 x 19.2 cm (10 7/16 x 7 9/16 in.)
- Genre
- Miscellaneous
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Jiaqing reign (1795-1820)
About
Ink cakes (also called ink sticks) are dissolved with the addition of water and then ground on the surface of a flat square stone into liquid ink for painting and calligraphy. The precious ink cakes here, however, have never been used. The inscription on the side of the blue ink cake says that the set was commissioned by Chen Huai, Governor of Jiangxi Province.