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Lot Essay
CLASSIC SEAL SCRIPTS
It is said that ‘seal making traces its roots back to Qin and Han’. From Ming and Qing Dynasties onwards, seal carvers have touted ‘copying Qin and following Han’ as their orthodoxy, reserving their reverence in particular for Han seals, whose importance was elevated to the level of Tang and Song poetry, Yuan plays or Chinese calligraphy and paintings. In the turn of Qing Dynasty and Republic era, the study of seals became a stand-alone subject like the study of paintings or calligraphy.
In Han dynasty official communications were written in clerical script, but seals were carved in a newly developed script, based on Qin zhuanshu script with clerical script modifications. This new script, called mouzhuan, (intertwined seal script) was categorised as one of the Liushu (six scripts) in the Xin Dynasty, and became the primary script for Han Dynasty seals, whether official or private.
In the first 20 years of the Western Han period, official seals adopted the Qin tradition of using four-square or two-square grids. As mouzhuan gradually developed, the use of grids decreased – a clear divergence from Qin seals – although on occasions the grids are used for compositional purposes with certain flexibility.
Generally speaking, Han Dynasty seals are carved intaglio in mouzhuan with simple unadorned lines, and full, expansive curves. The characters are square, upright and easily recognisable, composed of squares and circles enclosing one another, with a tight composition showing the clerical script influence, and has a sense of somber and unadorned grandeur.
Materials used to make Han Dynasty seals include bronze, gold, silver and jade. Jade seals are particularly prized by collectors for their artistry. This is because firstly, the Han Dynasty after Wudi Emperor considered Confucianism the supreme philosophy. The Confucian concept of ‘comparing a gentleman’s virtue to the characters of jade’ imbues jade with deeper cultural connotations, and production of jade objects, including jade seals, were much more regulated while remaining creative, showing the all encompassing aesthetics of the period.
Secondly, the Han Dynasty built on the system of official seal production established by the Warring States and Qin periods. Jade seal are codified in terms of their material, form and inscription, showing distinct characteristics of the period. Generally speaking, Han official seals are square in form, around 2.3 cm. square. In the early Western Han period they are slightly larger, some up to 2.6 cm. square. Seals for private use also proliferated, and their sizes can vary, normally between 1.1 cm. to
2.3 cm. square.
Finials on Han Dynasty seals are normally of ‘inverted funnel’ form, in some rare occasions those in ‘bridge’ form or carved as chi tigers are found. The base of the finial is drilled for attachment to hang from the belt. Most jade seals from Han Dynasty are carved intaglio with mouzhuan inscriptions. Jade is a hard material and difficult to carve, so a special technique was developed for carving jade seals: qiedaofa (chopping technique), where the knife cuts vertically downward repeatedly to create a series of small cuts. This method creates characters that look archaic, classic and elegant on the square seal face.
Some Han Dynasty seals are carved in niaochongshu (‘bird and insect’ seal script) but they are very rare. From extant examples and impressions, only over one hundred recorded, and mostly private seals.
It is said that ‘seal making traces its roots back to Qin and Han’. From Ming and Qing Dynasties onwards, seal carvers have touted ‘copying Qin and following Han’ as their orthodoxy, reserving their reverence in particular for Han seals, whose importance was elevated to the level of Tang and Song poetry, Yuan plays or Chinese calligraphy and paintings. In the turn of Qing Dynasty and Republic era, the study of seals became a stand-alone subject like the study of paintings or calligraphy.
In Han dynasty official communications were written in clerical script, but seals were carved in a newly developed script, based on Qin zhuanshu script with clerical script modifications. This new script, called mouzhuan, (intertwined seal script) was categorised as one of the Liushu (six scripts) in the Xin Dynasty, and became the primary script for Han Dynasty seals, whether official or private.
In the first 20 years of the Western Han period, official seals adopted the Qin tradition of using four-square or two-square grids. As mouzhuan gradually developed, the use of grids decreased – a clear divergence from Qin seals – although on occasions the grids are used for compositional purposes with certain flexibility.
Generally speaking, Han Dynasty seals are carved intaglio in mouzhuan with simple unadorned lines, and full, expansive curves. The characters are square, upright and easily recognisable, composed of squares and circles enclosing one another, with a tight composition showing the clerical script influence, and has a sense of somber and unadorned grandeur.
Materials used to make Han Dynasty seals include bronze, gold, silver and jade. Jade seals are particularly prized by collectors for their artistry. This is because firstly, the Han Dynasty after Wudi Emperor considered Confucianism the supreme philosophy. The Confucian concept of ‘comparing a gentleman’s virtue to the characters of jade’ imbues jade with deeper cultural connotations, and production of jade objects, including jade seals, were much more regulated while remaining creative, showing the all encompassing aesthetics of the period.
Secondly, the Han Dynasty built on the system of official seal production established by the Warring States and Qin periods. Jade seal are codified in terms of their material, form and inscription, showing distinct characteristics of the period. Generally speaking, Han official seals are square in form, around 2.3 cm. square. In the early Western Han period they are slightly larger, some up to 2.6 cm. square. Seals for private use also proliferated, and their sizes can vary, normally between 1.1 cm. to
2.3 cm. square.
Finials on Han Dynasty seals are normally of ‘inverted funnel’ form, in some rare occasions those in ‘bridge’ form or carved as chi tigers are found. The base of the finial is drilled for attachment to hang from the belt. Most jade seals from Han Dynasty are carved intaglio with mouzhuan inscriptions. Jade is a hard material and difficult to carve, so a special technique was developed for carving jade seals: qiedaofa (chopping technique), where the knife cuts vertically downward repeatedly to create a series of small cuts. This method creates characters that look archaic, classic and elegant on the square seal face.
Some Han Dynasty seals are carved in niaochongshu (‘bird and insect’ seal script) but they are very rare. From extant examples and impressions, only over one hundred recorded, and mostly private seals.