Bird on Wisteria Branch with Flying Cicada, from 十竹齋書画譜 (Shu zhu zhai shu hua pu, Ten Bamboo Studio Collection)
Hu Zhengyan, original editor
Zhu Huailu, Jiaojin Shanfang Printing House, printer
1904 CE, Shanghai, Qing-Dynasty China (present-day People’s Republic of China)
Douban woodblock printing on onionskin paper, ink, silk, cardstock
Perched on a wisteria branch, a bird tenses in anticipation as it watches a cicada fly by. Like walking through a Chinese garden, flipping through the Ten Bamboo Studio Collection is a study in the harmony of nature as expressed through the techniques of Chinese painting, here skillfully reproduced in print. First printed in Nanjing in 1633 CE, the woodblocks of the Ten Bamboo have been reused and recut for over 200 years, making it a transtemporal record of both painting and print. This version was printed in 1904 CE, using pieces of the original blocks that were modified in 1897 CE.
Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie