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Carving out his own profession
By Xu Wenwen |
October 26, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
AFTER teaching himself the traditional techniques, a local craftsman is keeping the ancient art of making Chinese seals alive. He has become so well known for his work that he was recently asked to create seals for the Obamas. Xu Wenwen reports.
Traditional Chinese seals are the printing stamps and impressions that are often used on Chinese calligraphy works and paintings instead of signatures.
The role of seals in Chinese culture cannot be underestimated. For the past 3,000 years they have been used both in official and private spheres, as a token of office and authority or as private name seals to stamp on artworks, letters and contracts.
Nowadays, many people in China still possess traditional seals, typically made of stone. However, in ancient times, seals were made of crystal, colored glaze, ivory and rhinoceros horns, and emperor's seals were made of jade.
The most obvious difference between these previously used minerals and today's popular stones is the hardness. Using the Mohs scale of mineral hardness jade, crystal and ivory range from 4 to 7, while stone is softer and easier to carve at 1.5 to 4.
As a result, the skills of carving on hard materials have dwindled ever since the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368).
The rarity of a seal improves its value. Seals made of precious red coral, rutilated quartz (a kind of crystal) and emerald are luxuries because of their special artistic value.
Today, few artists know how to carve on hard jade or agate, yet artist Zhang Xiaoming from Xiaoshan, Hangzhou persists to develop the skills.
Fifty-year-old Zhang has been carving seals for more than 30 years. He began to study how to engrave hard seals and now runs his own seal company and seal shop.
At his shop, people can not only appreciate ordinary stone seals, but also agate, crystal and coral seals seldom seen anywhere else. Plus tiny seals, Zhang is also fond of engraving on small seals, regardless of whether the stones are hard or soft.
"I was driven by the market," Zhang explains as to why he chose this distinctive way of art. "More than 10 years ago, I got more requests from customers asking me to engrave jade, crystal and ivory seals. After saying 'no' a couple of times, I decided to study how to do it."
Like many modern seal carvers, Zhang has never been trained to carve on hard materials, so he had to teach himself - studying from books and practising.
Since hard materials are expensive, Zhang originally practised on glass and then on leftover pieces of jade. After years of practice, the ambitious craftsman has explored a whole set of methods.
To carve on agate requires very sharp engraving tools, otherwise it cracks; to engrave emerald (Mohs hardness 7), an electric-driven carborundum needle, which is also used in jade sculpture, is hard enough for inscription. Sharp steel engraving tools also work, as the ancient craftsmen used this method, but it takes much longer than using an electric needle.
One thing Zhang mentions is that no matter whether carving on hard, soft, large or small seals, he uses a very common cutting tool with a tempered steel shaft, positioned at an angle from the handle and providing a very sharp cutting face. The only difference between these tools are the sizes.
During the past decade, Zhang has carved thousands of hard seals. "The market is much wider than it was decades ago, as the number of people who own gemstones is increasing," he says.
"To carve on hard things, you need patience, carefulness and proficient skills," says Zhang.
Engraving is a kind of sculpture where craftsman need to carve in standard scripts and styles, which are varied since Chinese calligraphy has changed a great deal during the span of Chinese history.
Therefore, the art form requires both sculpture skills and an understanding of Chinese calligraphy, and Zhang's abilities are so excellent that last July an American association of overseas Chinese invited him to carve a set of seals as a gift for the family of United States president Barack Obama.
Zhang made four unique seals for the Obamas, which are now on exhibition in the White House, Zhang says. The most incredible thing is that the seal for President Obama, featured a likeness of the map of the US and an eagle in the original pattern of the stone it was cut from.
When Zhang agreed to the request, he went with a woman from the association to a famous source of seal stones - Changhua County, Lin'an County, Hangzhou.
After hours of searching, they bought an original vermilion stone that hadn't been cut and polished rather than buying jade or ivory.
A local craftsman cut the stones on the spot and Zhang designated the reddest (also the best) stone area, and asked the craftsman to cut the first seal for President Obama.
On examining the first 25cm seal cut from the original stone the woman exclaimed: "There is an exact map of America on the stone!" Then, she turned the stone over and started screaming again as there was the likeness of an eagle on it.
Zhang called it heaven's will. Besides carving Barack Obama's translated name in Chinese on the bottom, he embedded a gold-plated portrait of the president on the side featuring the map of the US, with Obama's signature below. On the opposite side, he embedded a mini version of the Great Seal of the United States to echo the image of the eagle.
The artist also created three other seals from the raw stone, a smaller one for Obama's wife Michelle and a pair of similar seals for their two daughters.
Traditional Chinese seals are the printing stamps and impressions that are often used on Chinese calligraphy works and paintings instead of signatures.
The role of seals in Chinese culture cannot be underestimated. For the past 3,000 years they have been used both in official and private spheres, as a token of office and authority or as private name seals to stamp on artworks, letters and contracts.
Nowadays, many people in China still possess traditional seals, typically made of stone. However, in ancient times, seals were made of crystal, colored glaze, ivory and rhinoceros horns, and emperor's seals were made of jade.
The most obvious difference between these previously used minerals and today's popular stones is the hardness. Using the Mohs scale of mineral hardness jade, crystal and ivory range from 4 to 7, while stone is softer and easier to carve at 1.5 to 4.
As a result, the skills of carving on hard materials have dwindled ever since the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368).
The rarity of a seal improves its value. Seals made of precious red coral, rutilated quartz (a kind of crystal) and emerald are luxuries because of their special artistic value.
Today, few artists know how to carve on hard jade or agate, yet artist Zhang Xiaoming from Xiaoshan, Hangzhou persists to develop the skills.
Fifty-year-old Zhang has been carving seals for more than 30 years. He began to study how to engrave hard seals and now runs his own seal company and seal shop.
At his shop, people can not only appreciate ordinary stone seals, but also agate, crystal and coral seals seldom seen anywhere else. Plus tiny seals, Zhang is also fond of engraving on small seals, regardless of whether the stones are hard or soft.
"I was driven by the market," Zhang explains as to why he chose this distinctive way of art. "More than 10 years ago, I got more requests from customers asking me to engrave jade, crystal and ivory seals. After saying 'no' a couple of times, I decided to study how to do it."
Like many modern seal carvers, Zhang has never been trained to carve on hard materials, so he had to teach himself - studying from books and practising.
Since hard materials are expensive, Zhang originally practised on glass and then on leftover pieces of jade. After years of practice, the ambitious craftsman has explored a whole set of methods.
To carve on agate requires very sharp engraving tools, otherwise it cracks; to engrave emerald (Mohs hardness 7), an electric-driven carborundum needle, which is also used in jade sculpture, is hard enough for inscription. Sharp steel engraving tools also work, as the ancient craftsmen used this method, but it takes much longer than using an electric needle.
One thing Zhang mentions is that no matter whether carving on hard, soft, large or small seals, he uses a very common cutting tool with a tempered steel shaft, positioned at an angle from the handle and providing a very sharp cutting face. The only difference between these tools are the sizes.
During the past decade, Zhang has carved thousands of hard seals. "The market is much wider than it was decades ago, as the number of people who own gemstones is increasing," he says.
"To carve on hard things, you need patience, carefulness and proficient skills," says Zhang.
Engraving is a kind of sculpture where craftsman need to carve in standard scripts and styles, which are varied since Chinese calligraphy has changed a great deal during the span of Chinese history.
Therefore, the art form requires both sculpture skills and an understanding of Chinese calligraphy, and Zhang's abilities are so excellent that last July an American association of overseas Chinese invited him to carve a set of seals as a gift for the family of United States president Barack Obama.
Zhang made four unique seals for the Obamas, which are now on exhibition in the White House, Zhang says. The most incredible thing is that the seal for President Obama, featured a likeness of the map of the US and an eagle in the original pattern of the stone it was cut from.
When Zhang agreed to the request, he went with a woman from the association to a famous source of seal stones - Changhua County, Lin'an County, Hangzhou.
After hours of searching, they bought an original vermilion stone that hadn't been cut and polished rather than buying jade or ivory.
A local craftsman cut the stones on the spot and Zhang designated the reddest (also the best) stone area, and asked the craftsman to cut the first seal for President Obama.
On examining the first 25cm seal cut from the original stone the woman exclaimed: "There is an exact map of America on the stone!" Then, she turned the stone over and started screaming again as there was the likeness of an eagle on it.
Zhang called it heaven's will. Besides carving Barack Obama's translated name in Chinese on the bottom, he embedded a gold-plated portrait of the president on the side featuring the map of the US, with Obama's signature below. On the opposite side, he embedded a mini version of the Great Seal of the United States to echo the image of the eagle.
The artist also created three other seals from the raw stone, a smaller one for Obama's wife Michelle and a pair of similar seals for their two daughters.
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