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Inkstone in the Shape of a Roof Tile with Seal Script Characters
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This inkstone is particularly noteworthy for its inscriptions in two styles. The base shows four characters in seal script ( zhuanshu ) expressing auspicious, or favorable wishes, while the characters on the side in standard script ( kaishu ) record the name of the workshop and that of the collector’s studio. Inkstones were used to grind solid ink cakes with the addition of water to produce liquid ink for brush painting and calligraphy.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineInkstone in the Shape of a Roof Tile with Seal Script Characters (歙石仿漢瓦當硯), 1700s–1800s. Workshop of Jian Guzhai. She stone; diameter: 14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund, 2023.50
