Set of Wooden Printing Blocks

Chinese innovations in ink, block printing, and movable type fueled global advancements in printing technology, expanding the range of influence of the written word. Though the printing press is said to have been invented in China, it never offered the same efficiencies to Chinese culture as it did in the West, due to the near endless numbers of Chinese characters and the labor involved in manipulating them. Enclosed in a contemporary wooden frame, each of the miniature wood blocks included in this early 20th-century type set was hand-carved with a Chinese character. Each is a unique and wonderful curiosity, providing an unusual look at a moment in time.