Side carving
Side carving (
History
The history of this art can be traced back as early as the
In the late
In the
Types
With characters
- A very common form of the art are short sentences indicating the owner of the seal, the maker of the seal, the date of manufacture, or the mood of the maker.
- Longer writing, such as essays, articles, poems, etc.
With this style words (relatively short ones) engraved on the surfaces sometimes are more specifically called bian kuan (Chinese: 邊款/边款; literally "side words")[2] or bian zhu (Chinese: 邊注/边注; literally "side notations" or "side remarks").
If there's a whole poem or essay engraved on the side surfaces of a seal it is sometimes called ti ke (Chinese: 題刻/题刻), or shi ke (Chinese: 詩刻/诗刻; literally "poem-engraving").
To engrave
Some artists also engrave a whole volume or volumes into the surfaces of a seal, like the complete Analects of Confucius.
With pictorial elements
- Engrave a whole pictureinto the surfaces of a seal
When a shanshui style painting is engraved into the surfaces of the seal it is called bian jing (Chinese: 邊景/边景; literally "side landscapes" or "side views").
When a pattern of grasses, flowers, birds, or insects (usually "bird-and-flower painting") is engraved, it is called bian xiaopin (Chinese: 邊小品/边小品; literally "side small views" or "side small sketch").
To engrave a picture onto the surfaces of a seal an artist needs experience in both painting and engraving.
Combinations of literal and pictorial elements
Collecting
Rubbings of a seals' side-engraving are also collected. This kind of collecting first emerged in the Ming dynasty among artists and scholars.[3]
Notable artists
See also
- Seal carving: the art on the bottom surface of a seal.
- Knob carving: the art on the top part of a seal.
- Seal script: the script of characters generally used in seal making.
- Seal (East Asia): Asian seal art in general.
- Engraved gem: the equivalent in Near Eastern and European art.
References
- Bibliography
- The Art of Seal's Side Remarks (《印章边款艺术》); ISBN 7-5010-1596-1; Antique Press; Jan 1st, 2005.[4]
- Notes
- ^ Side engraving of a seal
- ^ Side remarks of a seal
- ^ Collecting stamps of the side-engraving of seals is a subtle subject Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Book Information: The Art of Seal's Side Remarks (《印章边款艺术》)