TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A grass jelly ink painting (墨戲仙草) took the top award in a product design competition held by Taiwan's National Palace Museum (NPM).

The gelatinous scene is based on a painting housed in the NPM and was the winning entry submitted to the museum's National Treasure Merchandise Design Competition. The product was conceived by students from the Visual Communication and Design Department at the National Taiwan University of Arts.

Two classmates, Wang Pei-en (王蓓恩) and Liu Chia-hsin (劉家欣), derived their design for the piece from the famous black-and-white painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains”(富春山居圖) by Yuan Dynasty artist Huang Gong-wang (黃公望), reported NOWnews. The students first etched the outline of the painting into the grass jelly before pouring cream on top to form the mountains and backdrop.

Etched grass jelly surface. (Behance.net photo)

The competition was split into two categories: "Graphic Art" and "Home Accessories." The theme of this year's competition was "folk festivals."

Participants used the NPM's open data platform to develop creative products derived from national treasures. A total of 869 applicants from both Taiwan and abroad submitted entries, with seven receiving prizes for outstanding submissions.

Grass jelly after adding cream. (Behance.net photo)

Finished product including packaging. (Behance.net photo)

Minature version of the product. (NPM photo)

"Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains." (NPM photo)