BAMBOO AND ROCKS
Original woodblock print from the Mustard Seed Garden. China, 18th cent.
This early Chinese woodblock print from the prominent “Mustard Seed Gardenâ€, in best condition and colour quality, offers a thrilling composition of bamboo, a rock, and an insect.
The “Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Paintingâ€, or JIE-ZI-YUAN-HUA-ZHUAN, is considered one of the earliest major classic Chinese colour-print works. Due to its unconstrained diversity and narrative style, with all its atmospheric nature scenes, this was a popular work from the very beginning. Although they are multiple issues published at different times, these pages printed on extremely thin silky paper and in finest colours, have become ever so rare. The “Mustard Seed Garden†originates from Nanjing – the first parts were printed from 1677 and 1679 onwards, and the final parts - black and white landscape depictions – in 1818. The publisher was Shen Xinyou, who also commissioned the painter Wang Gai for its realisation.
The texts in the pictures are short poems, which exhibit only a faint connection to the images.
SIZE 26,3 x 33 CM
This original woodblock prints was acquired during the 1970-80’s from the collection of Wilhelm and Walter Exner, Museum Bad Wildungen