Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 8. (Budapest, 1984)
CHIA-JEN KECSKÉS, Lily: Art and connoisseurship of the ink
2. IMPERIAL INK, with the inscription: P'an yün Ch'ien-lung (Coiled Dragon in Clouds. Ch'ien-lung) Inv.-Nr 1458. ed ink set) made specially for connoisseurs. This dominant artistic form in the Ch'ing dynasty gave inkmakers great opportunities to use their ingenuity, imagination, and skill to design and execute their ideas. Kao Lien described his encounter with such ink sets made by Wang Chung-shan, the leading figure of Hsiu-ning school: These fine inks are placed in boxes made of nan (Machilus nanmu), painted in red lacquer. One ten-piece set carries ten animal names, such as lion, monkey, elephant, sparrow, horse, minah, egret, and deer. One four-piece set is in small, long shape ... Another four-piece set is called t'ai-chi (great void), pa-kua (eight diagrams), yüan-pi (round jade) and ch'iinyao (jade palace), all in round shape. Sung-tzu-hou (Count of Pine Moisture) is another set if four in square shape. There are also other sets in tablet and cylindrical shapes .. . 17 Decorated ink sets are not only characteristic of their elaborateness, high techniques and artistic value, they also illustrate a long process of all kinds of workmanship, involving other craftmanships, such as designing, woodcutting of ink molds, box-making with silk and brocade, and lacquer work with inlay-technique: a collective effort of inkmakers, painters, woodcutters, lacquer and textile workers. A good ink set is not only finely made, but also luxuriously packed. In earlier times, before the time of the Ming, leather bags were used to pack the ink pieces and to keep them from dampness. From the beginning of the Ming fancy boxes were made to store these decorated ink sets, with the lids entirely closing on the containers in order to keep ink from air hand humidity. These boxes are also decorated with pearls, jade or other precious stones. Inks, in sets or singles, bear titles and catalogs often list inks by their titles. An ink title usually reflects the theme of the decoration. Pai-tzu-t'u (Picture of Hundred Sons) is the title of ink pieces with hundred figures pictured an both sides. A title can also indicate the material used, such as sung-yen-mo (Pine Smoke Ink), or the place where the soot was from, such as Yii-mi-mo (Ink from Yü-mi). A title may also indicate ink's characteristics: Ch'ihsiang-mo (Ink with Wonderful Fragrance) ; Hua-mei-mo (Ink for Drawing Eyebrows) ; Niu-she-mo (Ink in Ox Tongue Shape). Some titles carry personalized names, such as Sung-tzu-hou (Count of 148
