Part of Story of The Western Chamber
1766
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1766
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Part of Story of The Western Chamber is a 1766 by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Qianlong Reign, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a long, narrow scroll filled with tiny figures in a garden: scholars, servants, and lovers moving through pavilions and moon gates. This piece is one panel from a much larger story—the *Western Chamber*, a famous Chinese romance. The artist used woodblock printing with separate carved blocks for each color, layering them like a puzzle. The technique was at its peak in the 1700s, but no one knows who carved or printed this exact version. To see more of this style, look up qing dynasty (1644–1911).
Woodblock printing in color reached its height in China in the 1600s to 1700s . It was executed by means of sets of separate blocks, each carved to print a different color.
In the 1600s, printing flourished in such Jiangnan cities as Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Huizhou, evolving from privately enjoyed illustrated books printed in color to more commercialized single-sheet color prints that were hung on walls and became part of the rich urban visual culture.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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