Cleverly moulded in the form of a large official seal, this ink cake has a pair of dragons cavorting amonst waves on its top. The reverse side, shown here, displays a Ming-style imperial seal-script legend in four large characters, T'ien-fu yung-ts'ang meaning, "eternal collection of the heavenly palace," This stick conforms in shape and concept to ink cakes made by the mid-eighteenth century ink maker, Wang Wei-kao.