Comprehensive Review of the Chinese Seal Carving Market

Author: Li Zao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-12-01
Features: Chinese seal carving has gradually detached from its dependence on painting and calligraphy since the Qing Dynasty and has developed into an independent art form. Seal carving art, with its unique charm and appeal, has increasingly attracted people's preference. It is not only popular domestically but has also spread to numerous countries and regions in the East and West. Especially since the reform and opening-up, seal carving has gained broader international recognition, with large numbers of people from all age groups—old, middle-aged, young, and children—joining the ranks of seal carving enthusiasts. Like painting and calligraphy, artworks are also commodities. In terms of the seal carving market, there has never been a dedicated book. To further promote the prosperity of the seal carving market and gradually standardize it, making it more convenient for buying, collecting, producing, distributing, learning, and researching, Xiling Seal Society has specially compiled and published Comprehensive Guide to the Chinese Seal Carving Market.
The Annual of Chinese Seal Carving Studies originally collected data from 1988 to 1992 for a total of five years. Due to various reasons, the book was unable to be continued. This book, however, continues to compile data from 1993 to 1997 for a total of seven years, including seal carvers from various regions, seal carving clubs, seal carving literature, and seal carving chronicles. As for detailed classifications of seal materials, seal tools, the commission rates of contemporary seal carvers, and auctions of seal carving works, these are entirely new content.
This book is divided into eight chapters, providing a detailed account of the commission rates of Chinese seal carvers, their names, seal carving clubs, the types and specifications of seal materials, the varieties of seal tools, and the trends of seal auctions. The content is comprehensive, the data is thorough, and it holds strong reference value. With this book in hand, one can gain a relatively comprehensive understanding of the overall situation of the Chinese seal carving market.