Irregularly shaped woodblock (250 x 240 mm.), carved on both sides.
[China: late Qing].
Woodblocks are invaluable historical artifacts in East Asian history, serving as key instruments in the preservation and dissemination of knowledge. The printing process involves brushing ink onto the carved surface, pressing a sheet of paper onto it, and rubbing it with a printing pad or brush to transfer the inked negative impression. While best known for printing side-stitched codices, woodblocks were also historically used for various kinds of single-sheet ephemera that were popular not only as reading material but for their iconic or religious significance.
This unusual woodblock, engraved on both sides, depicts two figures, one each on the recto and verso: the legendary monkey King Wukong from the 16th-century novel Journey to the West and a female figure, perhaps a demoness he encountered, leaning back and losing her balance. It is likely that the recto and verso images were printed side-by-side to create a single scene, but we are unsure about whether the picture was decorative or had other significance. The soft, undulating curves depicting clouds on both the recto and the verso exhibits a higher level of craftsmanship than what is typically found on New Year’s pictures (Ch. nianhua 年畫), a type of sometimes-multicolor prints depicting Daoist deities and sometimes literary characters commonly used for decorating one’s home during the Spring Festival.
Price: $1,350.00
Item ID: 11601
