Page from the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting
first edition printed in 1679
Medium
Circular fan-shaped woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 5/8 x 11 13/16 in. (24.4 x 30 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1924
Accession Number
CP17
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite page from the *Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting* (*Jieziyuan Huazhuan*), first printed 1679 during China's Qing dynasty, showcases a landscape attributed to the Southern Song master Li Songnian. As one of the most influential painting manuals in East Asian art history, it served as a comprehensive guide for aspiring artists, offering precise woodblock-printed models of compositions, brush techniques, and color applications. This circular fan-shaped print, in ink and color on paper, exemplifies the manual's role in democratizing elite painting traditions, making them access...