Talking Seals

It’s hard to cut curves with a seal carving knife.

1 June 2017

Early Chinese bronze seals for official use often had long handles.

1 May 2017

Most soft stone, like that used for seal carving, can be bruised.

15 April 2017

Someone recently sent pictures of a carving of stampeding horses asking if the stone was shoushan.

1 April 2017

One kind of decoration often seen on the sides of Chinese seals is a scratched design called sgraffito.

15 March 2017

The Japanese sometimes cut seal designs into the end of a hard white eraser and use this as a stamp.

1 March 2017

It is tradition that Chinese calligraphy be done all at once, with no corrections or reworking of the characters.

15 February 2017

People often assume it’s easier to cut a seal with fewer characters rather than one with more characters.

1 February 2017

Occasionally a seal will be seen with a signature carved into the side of the stone by a famous Chinese seal artist.

15 January 2017

Seals are used extensively in China for their decorative effect.

1 January 2017

Some collectors enjoy seals because of their stones.

15 December 2016

I took a quick look today at the China-based website AliExpress to find seal tools or stones.

1 December 2016