<div class="description">
This exquisite lacquer box contains ten ink cakes of different shapes and colors. Each is inscribed in gold with a poem by the Qianlong emperor, praising the ten famous sights of the Westlake in Hangzhou, near Shanghai. The Westlake is famous for its natural beauty; it was a favorite imperial destination and remains a tourist attraction today.<br><br>Ink cakes (also called ink sticks) are dissolved with the addition of water and ground on the surface of a flat stone into liquid ink for painting and calligraphy. The precious ink cakes here, however, have never been used.<br><br>The inscription in mother of pearl inlay on the box’s cover says: <em>Imperially Made Gold Inscribed Poems of Images of [the Ten] Sights of the Westlake</em>.</div>
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