An example of classic Chinese color printing, one of the decorations for writing-paper printed in 1644 in the Collection of Decorated Letter Paper of the Ten Bamboo Hall by the famous engraver and printer Tsao Sung-hsiieh. A seventeenth-century Chinese description says of him that: 'his prints are as beautiful as the colours of the clouds or the gleam of the cornfields'. The photograph cannot fully reproduce the subtlety of the color printing variations, or convey the extra dimension of the embossing which is combined with the printing. In addition, the paper on which these designs were printed is of a luxurious texture which adds to the effect. (Ulrich Hausmann.)