Page 55 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

INK

In China ink is made by combining animal glue with either carbon col-
obtained from burn-
lected from burning resinous pine wood or lampblack
ing vegetable oil. Musk and other fragrances are sometimes added to mask
to
the odor of the glue. Combined according workshop formulae, these
ingredients are blended thoroughly by pounding, shaped into cakes, and
then allowed to harden slowly. Ink can be made from the cake by grinding
it with water on a stone. The shape of ink cakes evolved through the ages.
Excavated samples surviving from the Han dynasty take the form of small

spheres, but examples from the Ming and Qing dynasties, which account
for a majority of extant ancient Chinese ink, take the form of round sticks,
small tablets, or disks.
Most extant ink sticks and cakes are adorned with molded ornamen-
tation. Using a mold with a design carved on its interior, the ink maker
transfers the pattern onto the surface of the cake as it is shaped. Cakes with
molded decorations thus are collaborative works by ink makers and wood-
carvers. By the sixteenth century the expanding market for luxury goods
to
prompted many ink shops produce lines of exquisite products with fine
ornamentation. the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ink making
During
flourished in Anhui Province, also a center of woodblock printing. Tapping
the skills of local carvers, the ink shops in Anhui were able to produce
molded cakes with strong artistic appeal that were stylistically indebted to
as
the tradition of woodblock illustrations, represented by the output of the
shops of Cheng Junfang (154i-ca. 1620) and Fang Yulu (act. ca. 1570-
I619) in Huizhou.
In 1588, in what was a highly original endeavor, Fang published
a
Fangshi Mopu (Ink Manual of the Fang Family), catalogue of his cakes
with 380 illustrations. Many of these pictures were contributed distin-
by
guished local painters, and members of the famous Huang family of wood-
block carvers were responsible for cutting the printing blocks. Cheng
followed suit and engaged a similar group of artists and craftsmen to pro-
duce his own catalogue, ChengshiMoyuan (Cheng Family's Ink Garden), in
16o6. Trying to outdo his rival, Cheng included some 5oo illustrations in his
in color. The
volume, and a limited number of copies were printed height of
of his ink cakes to the court
by
Cheng's career was marked the presentation
of the Wanli emperor (r. 1573-1620).
Fangshi Mopu and Chengshi Moyuan further our knowledge of the
of these masters even
repertoire though only a small number of their works
survive. However, the availability of their designs in the catalogues gives
of
rise to the problem copies. Cheng and Fang were such prominent names
that it is customary for forgers to add the masters' marks to their own
manufacture. WAS