Makers › Master Craftsmen
Wu Faxiang
Late Ming Nanjing block printer who in 1626 cut the Luoxuan Letter-Paper Album, the earliest surviving colour-printed and embossed letter-paper book
A craft workshop centres on a potter's wheel holding a tall celadon vase, amid racks of red lacquer boxes, an embroidery frame with a floral design, shelves of celadon ware, carved wooden panels and stacked logs, while one craftsman works at a table and another stands at a glowing kiln.
Also known as Wu Faxiang of Jinling
- Roles
- Master Craftsmen
Wu Faxiang was a native of Jiangning who lived below Mount Tianque at Nanjing; the Jinling tongzhuan describes him as a quiet, deeply learned scholar, and with Hu Zhengyan he represents the colour woodblock printing of Nanjing in the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns, though little else is known of his life. In 1626 he printed the Luoxuan Letter-Paper Album compiled by Yan Jizu, combining multi-block colour printing with blind embossing in some 170 designs. It is the earliest letter-paper album known to survive, and the unique copy is in the Shanghai Museum.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; printed the Luoxuan Letter-Paper Album in 1626