Artwork preview

Letter

Wang Ao

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A letter written in black ink on gray paper with a faint leaf pattern. The letter is written by Wang Ao. The paper is rectangular and oriented horizontally. The text consists of vertical lines of Chinese characters written from top to bottom. There are 5 columns of text. The columns are not perfectly straight. The characters vary in size. There is a long, vertical black line on the left side, near the first column. The paper has a few darker spots and a vertical discoloration line down the center. There are two small red stamps, one in the bottom-left corner and one in the bottom-right corner. The background behind the paper is white.

Artwork Details

Date
late 15th or early 16th century
Medium
Album leaf; ink on patterned paper
Culture
China
Dimensions
599 × 496 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette