Cleveland Museum of Art

Imperially Commissioned Set of Ink Sticks with Images and Poems of Famous West Lake Sites

Date: 1780–94
Medium: Molded ink in yellow, blue, black, green, red, brown, white, and gold
Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
Department: Chinese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

Each ink stick depicts one of the Ten Scenes of the West Lake on one side, and a corresponding imperial poem on the other, composed on emperor Qianlong’s fifth southern inspection tour in 1780. Notably, the ink sticks’ colors and shapes correspond with the poems’ respective content. An inscription on one ink stick identifies this set as a gift to the emperor by Jiang Lan, an official from Anhui, a province known for its excellence in ink, paper making, and printing. Imperial records note that 10 more sets of West Lake inks were presented as a tribute by Gioroi Giking (Chinese: Jueluo Jiqing, 1753–1802), a Zhejiang provincial governor and a bannerman (Manchu native). The inscription in mother-of-pearl inlay on the box’s cover says: Imperially Made Gold Inscribed Poems of Images of [the Ten] Sights of the Westlake .

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