Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 8. (Budapest, 1965)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Polonyi, Péter: „Keng Chih T'u" ink cake set („Illustration of Husbandry and Weaving") from the Chien-lung period

in our possession it is Wang Wei-kao who is mentioned as being in a similar office, and on the other hand also the ,,

Chien Ku Chai Mo Sou" volume, containing the Wang's inks, publishes solely Wang Chin-sheng's and his two sons' : Wang Wei-kao and Wang Er-tsang works — that of Wang Tse-chao does not figure among them — we may suppose that Wang Tse-chao is identical with Wang Wei-kao. Gulik dates the first edition of the mentioned work to around 1750, which means that Wang Wei-kao at that time must have already developed a considerable activity.

21 On the basis of the afore-said, however, we may hardly be mistaken in dating the origin of the Wang Weikao's ,,Keng Chih T'u" ink series to the middle of the 18th century. For the time being there is no way to determine whether the more archaic, not-gilt ,,Keng Chih T'u" ink cakes originate from Wang Wei-kao as well. In China it was customary to copy in the more famous ink making workshops the works coming from their founders — Tsao Su-kung, Hu Kaiwen.

22 We know for instance that the ink making workshops, merged in 1 956 into the Hu Kai-wen's shop, kept altogether more than 1300 old engraved blocks, used for pressing ink cakes

23 in which naturally, at any time, perfect imitation could, and even to-day can, be made. Since we are not aware that in the imperial ink cake workshop, which otherwise had been active until the end of the last century,

24 something else would have been in practice, we cannot regard as excluded that ink cakes, marked with the name of Wang Weikao, might have been made later too. The possibility of this, however, must have been absolutely smaller in the imperial workshop, than in the private ones, led by the successors of their founders. It is also presumable that this practice did not stretch out to such ink sets as were definitely related to one period, similarly to ,,Keng Chih T'u" prefaced by Kang-hsi. By our knowledge, the work of Fuchs, published in 1959, was the only one, which investigates the question of „Keng Chih T'u" ink sets: It gives measurements of five different „Keng Chih T'u" ink sets: 1. 9X3 cm., from 1714, signed by Wang Hsi-ku, reproduced in Ku Kung Chou K'an No. 475 — 510 (1933-36) and Ku Kung Hsün K'an No. 3-23, 2. 7,6-7X2,7-8 cm, reproduced in Chien Ku Chai Mo Sou, 3. 5,4X2,75 cm, from the beginning of the 19th century (?), Fuchs saw only one cake in Peking privat collection, 4. 10,3X3,7-8 cm, produced for Fang Wei-tien (1756- 1815) about 1800, two cakes reproduced in Ho Pei Ti I Po Wu Yuan Pan Yüeh K'an Nr. 37 (Tientsin, 1933), 5. 6,8X2,45 cm, Fuchs saw in Peking one cake, and conditionally dated it about 1800. Because the measurement of this cake very close to ours 6,7 X 2,4 cm., may be they are from the same series. But in this case we cannot agree its originating from 1800. Thus, include the two recently published cakes, the „Keng Chih T'u" theme figured at least in seven sort of elaborating among the ink sets. Our set, as the working-up of the theme of the longestablished tradition, in all probability is one of the original specimens of the imposing middle 18th century series, which were created on the basis of the flourishing of the ink sets in the Wan-li period at the end of Ming and then in the Kang-hsi period at the beginning of Ching. 21 Gulik, R. H. ran: Op. Cit. p. 305. Fuchs dates it to Chia ch'ingperiod (1796—1821> 22 Gulik, R. H. van: Op. Cit. p. 365. 23 Fit Chi: Hui Mo. Hsin Kuan Ch'a 1957/20 p. 27. 24 Yü Fei-an: Op. Cit. p. 30.