The Hundred
Flowers Poetry-Writing Paper from the Wenmei Studio
Qing
dynasty (1644�1911), Xuantong period (1909�1911)
Illustrated
by Zhang Zhaoxiang (fl. 1892�1907)
Tianjin:
Wenmei zhai, 1911
No
folding margin at center of folio; decorative borders; overall dimensions of
volumes: 29.3 x 18.0 cm; block sizes of illustrations: approx. 23.7 x 15.0 cm;
stitched binding
Inventory number: 16218
The
"poetry-writing papers" produced by the Wenmei Studio in Tianjin are
a continuation of the tradition of late Ming Nanjing productions of decorated
stationery.� Illustrations by the
Tianjin-based artist Zhang Zhaoxiang, a painter of intimate garden vignettes
featuring a wide variety of floral, fruit, and plant subjects, were engraved on
woodblocks and printed on individual sheets of ornamental paper, which in turn
would have been stored in elegant stationery boxes.� Because the designs were printed in vivid, multiple colors to
make them look like paintings on paper, they probably would not have been
overwritten as were other kinds of decorated stationery printed with more
delicate patterns in paler shades.
The
first volume of this particular set contains large representations of various
individual blossoms or sprays occupying the center of the sheet and framed by
decorative borders; many of the designs evoke the paintings of the great early
Qing flower painter Yun Shouping.� The
second volume has somewhat reduced floral and pictorial compositions, some
placed asymmetrically along one side of the framed space.� In addition, this volume features a number
of embossed designs that are so delicate they barely can be discerned unless
examined at very close range.
|