top of page

Department:

The Museum Proper

Replica or Original:

On Display, In Storage, or in a Private Offsite Collection:

On Display

Primary Material:

Medium:

Dimensions:

Classification/Category:

Communication Objects

Specific Classification:

Notable Signatures,

Inscriptions, and/or Markings:

Donated by:

Unknown

Accession Number

Artifact Date:

Artifact Era/Dynasty:

Unknown

Creator:

Chinese

Creator Ancestry:

00:00 / 00:35

Block printing is a technique for printing text, images, or patterns that is widely used throughout East Asia.


It originated in ancient China as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is created by carving a block of wood, leaving areas and lines to create the outline of the image; this is then dipped in ink and the image appears in the print. Carving the blocks requires skilled and laborious work, but a large number of images can be printed. Woodblock printing eventually led to the invention of the movable type printing press.

Artifact Date:

Artifact Era/Dynasty:

Creator:

Unknown

Creator Ancestory:

Chinese

Catalogue Entry

Online References:

Department:

The Museum Proper

On Display, In Storage, or in a Private Offsite Collection:

On Display

Replica or Original:

A wood block printing used in the ancient times

Listen

00:00 / 01:04

Classification/Category:

Communication Objects

Specific Classification:

Notable Signatures,

Inscriptions, and/or Markings:

Primary Material:

Medium:

Dimensions:

Donated by:

Unknown

Accession Number:

Woodblock Printing

bottom of page