Woodblock (390 x 245 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 Chinese woodblock was used to print a New Year’s picture (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. While the genre is nearly as old as Chinese woodblock printing itself, it reached the height of its popularity during the Qing period (1644-1912).
This woodblock, engraved on both sides, illustrates the two supreme deities of Daoism, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West, at a banquet in their celestial palace. The woodblock ingeniously adopts the sophisticated technique of taoyin 套印 multicolor printing for a popular ephemera, as its recto (inked in black) and verso (inked in red for highlights) are carefully aligned to produce a single bicolor image.
Fine condition. With a long crack, carefully -re-joined.
Price: $1,350.00
Item ID: 11604
