A rare set of eighteen ink cakes

A rare set of eighteen ink cakes, each moulded with landscape scenes to each side, and with gilt and moulded calligraphy, two with seven character marks to the sides, the remainder with two marks, all contained in two black lacquered boxes, decorated in gilt with full-faced dragons, the whole contained in a folding silk box, early 19th century, the outer case damaged, 22.5cm. Provenance: Acquired by John Reeves after his arrival in Canton in 1812, and thence by descent. The use of ink dates back to the Neolithic Age, three thousand five hundred years ago. In China, it is made from a mixture of pine soot, lampblack or charcoal, which is bound by glue and then moulded into sticks or cakes, which were often decorated with impressed patterns or characters. During the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, the famous ink shops of Fang Yulu and Cheng Junfang each edited catalogues of the ink cakes they had designed and made, inviting famous calligraphers to write prefaces and endnotes to give their shops and products even greater prestige. Produced via woodblock printing, Fang's manual and Cheng's ink manual constituted major book publications of the period, helping to spread the art of ink cake design. The Qing dynasty court continued the trend of artistic ink cakes, having them designed directly by the court and produced along with custom made cases. Cf. Sotheby's Hong Kong, 23rd October 2005, lot 11 for a Qianlong example with a similarly decorated case, and Duke's Dorchester, 28th November 2008, lot 1036 for a similar Jiaqing set also from the John Reeves Collection.