id: 121931 accession number: 1942.233 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.233 updated: 2023-09-22 11:12:33.111000 Ink Cake with Wang Ziqiao, c. 1600s. Attributed to Fang Yulu (Chinese, active c. 1570–1619). Molded ink and gold pigment; diameter: 5.4 cm (2 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Henry W. Kent 1942.233 title: Ink Cake with Wang Ziqiao title in original language: 王子喬墨 series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1600s creation date earliest: 1600 creation date latest: 1699 current location: 003 Special Exhibition Hall creditline: Gift of Henry W. Kent copyright: --- culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) - Qing dynasty (1644-1911) technique: Molded ink and gold pigment department: Chinese Art collection: China - Ming Dynasty type: Miscellaneous find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Fang Yulu (Chinese, active c. 1570–1619) - artist --- measurements: Diameter: 5.4 cm (2 1/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Mark on base: 于魯監製 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China opening date: 1988-02-10T05:00:00 Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 10, 1988). title: Garden, Art, and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints opening date: 2016-09-17T00:00:00 Garden, Art, and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA (organizer) (September 17, 2016-January 9, 2017). title: China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta (Jiangnan) opening date: 2023-09-10T04:00:00 China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta (Jiangnan). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * CMA 1988: Realm of the Immortals (Cleveland Musuem of Art) Feb. 10-April 10, 1988, #22
The Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Garden, San Marino, CA (9/17/2016 – 1/9/2017): "Garden, Art, and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints" cat. no. 33, p. 132-133. --- PROVENANCE Henry W. Kent [1866–1948], given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?–1942 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1942– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Ink cakes were dissolved with water to be used for writing and painting. This ink cake depicts the immortal Wang
Ziqiao riding a crane and playing a sheng (wind instrument with reeds). Legend says that he was a prince who became
a Daoist immortal.

The design was likely borrowed from an illustrated Ming dynasty book on Daoist immortals printed in Anhui, the Liexian Quanzhuan. Ink cakes using Fang Yulu’s name, a famous ink maker in Huizhou, Anhui province, may just as well be products of followers who aspired to profit from his fame. His greatest local rival was his former mentor Cheng Dayue (1541–after 1610). --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Li, T. June, and Suzanne E. Wright. Garden, Art and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints. 2016. catalogue no. 33 page number: 132-133 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.233/1942.233_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.233/1942.233_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.233/1942.233_full.tif