Hu Kaiwen Inkcake with World Map Motif

Detail

Dates：Qing Dynasty
Size：Diameter 12.2cm， Thickness 1.5cm， Weight 390g

The oblate inkcake is slightly convex in the middle and slightly thin at the edge. It is gilt with gold with some parts inlaid with red and other colors. The two sides of it are maps of the world. One is the eastern hemisphere and the other is the western hemisphere, representing the eastern and western hemispheres respectively. The maps vividly depict six continents (without Antarctica) and five oceans (the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic ocean, and Antarctic ocean) with clear longitude and latitude lines and many countries marked. The characters are in either official or regular script. The map of Asia clearly shows Anhui province in China with its name in striking characters. The lines of longitude and latitude, water and land are all clear. On the side of the inkcake inscribed capital English “A MEMORIAL FOR PANAMA EXHIBITION U.S.A ,1915 MANUFACTURED BY HU KAWEN, THE FIRST ESTABLISHED FACTORY HSIU-NIN, ANHUI, CHINA”. The inkcake participated in the Panama Exposition of 1915 and won a gold medal.