Tibetan Double-Sided, Carved Wooden Printing Block

This printing block for printing on paper has been carved finely on each side with six lines of uchen (u-cen) script. One end also is carved with two sections of script – these will be the identifying numbers of the block so that when the blocks were stored stacked up, the correct block could be identified and pulled out as needed.

Almost certainly, the content is religious.

Uchen is the name given to Tibetan script when it is printed (it is called ume when it is in cursive and handwritten.) It is the script that used in Bhutan as well as Tibet.

Woodblock printing not only allowed for prayers and proclamations to be printed on paper quickly and cheaply, but also allowed for the printing and replicating of uchen letters in a standardised manner. This helped to counteract regional variation across Tibet.

The block is in very fine condition with only the most minor losses. It is well carved, and decorative in its own right.