Seal Paste Box
1555 (dated)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This small box was a container of seal paste, a red paste with which an artist or collector affix his seal on a painting or other works of art on paper. This box bears the signature of Wen Peng (1498-1573), a renowned calligrapher who enjoyed a successful official career in the Ming dynasty bureaucracy.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Soapstone, carved |
| Brief description | Seal paste box, carved soapstone, China, Ming dynasty, Jiajing reign period (1522-1566), dated 1550 |
| Physical description | Soapstone seal paste box, six-lobed, the top carved with a single stylised chi-dragon encircling a recessed panel of wave diaper, the sides of the lower half decorated with incised lines and small panels of diagonal hatching, the interior retains traces of seal vermilion. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Incised on the base in fluent cao shu, 'Jiajing geng xu mu chun zhi chu Chang zhou Wen Peng' Note From Register, the rest of the inscription as yet unread. CC 15/8/1986 Translation At the beginning of the last month of spring, geng xu year of the Jiajing reign |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | Bought from Lady Garner, formerly on loan to the V&A |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This small box was a container of seal paste, a red paste with which an artist or collector affix his seal on a painting or other works of art on paper. This box bears the signature of Wen Peng (1498-1573), a renowned calligrapher who enjoyed a successful official career in the Ming dynasty bureaucracy. |
| Bibliographic reference | Clunas, Craig. Chinese Carving. London: Sun Tree Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1996. p. 81, figs. 94-95. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | FE.27&A-1985 |
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| Record created | June 6, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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