Cleveland Museum of Art

Picture of a Cat, a Bird, and a Crabapple

Date

1662–1735

Medium

Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi reign (1622–1722) to Yongzheng reign (1723–35)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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. Woodblock printing in color reached a height in China in the 1600s to 1700s. The prints were executed by means of sets of separate blocks, each carved to print a different color.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.