My photo
I am an artist who has lived in Los Angeles, New York City and, now, northern California. My initial interest in art was provoked by the Asian collection at the Seattle Art Museum when I was in high school, and it has continued to this day. I am not a collector, merely an admirer who has picked up the odd scroll, print or seal. Seals especially have engaged a deep involvement and I welcome this opportunity to share. For my own primarily sculptural works please visit my website lorenmadsen.com.

peaches on a tree























A sweet little seal with much cultural resonance: peaches on a tree. The peach is native to China and is involved in many stories, including that of Yu Huang (the Jade Emperor) and his mother Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) who conferred longevity on the gods by feeding them the peaches of immortality, whose tree fruited only once every 1000 years.


Inscription 1: 千年桃實大如斗仙人摘之㕥, qian nian tao shi da ru dou xian ren zhai zhi [ ],
A thousand year peach, big as a dipper. The immortal picks and eats.
Inscription 2: [ ] 酒一食能得千年壽 [ ] 頰(?)常在十八九, [ ] jiu yi shi neng de qian nian shou [ ] jia chang zai shi ba jiu, Drink this wine (elixir) once to gain a thousand years of longevity, rosy cheeked always, like an 18 or 19 (year old).
Impression: 月+?, 龍, [ ] long, [ ] dragon. The right half of the first character is very elusive to me.
Signature: 又 耕 占, You Geng Zhan

geometric























A simple and elegant square seal with
facing swirls on the top.
Inscription: 丙申正月二十看(?) 三 日 達 受 志, bing shen zheng yue er shi kan(?) san ri da shou zhi, 1896 (or 1836 or 1956), the 20th day of the 1st lunar month, realized in 3 days (by) Shou Zhi
Impression: 實 迷 塗 其 未 遠, shi mi tu qi wei yuan, (A direct translation is difficult; the sense is:) It seems you are lost, but you're not far from the goal.

boy


A charmer. A boy poses coyly on a column with something carved into the side.
Inscription: 三庚記, San Gang li, San Gang recorded
Impression:無 長 物 齋, wu zhang wu zhai, without long(duration) thing hut (study)
Thanks to Yugan—again—for identifying the characters. And also to Larry Weinberg and Vance Wan who translate the seal as a Buddhist saying: "Material things don't last" with the final character lu, hut, referring to the seal as for (or from) a studio.
Just for fun, Google translates the impression as "belongings vegetarian" where the last character, lu, can be read as 'vegetarian' as well as 'hut.' Babelfish has it as "Non-surplus room."

red seal


Not a favorite, but handsome.
Top: 示畐 (福), fu, happiness, good fortune
Inscription: 徐同柏刻, xu tong bo ke, carved, quietly like a cedar
Impression: 小橋流水人家, xiao qiao liu shui ren jia, small bridge, flowing water, home

half cylinder seal


The impression from this seal is a dragon. It's the inscription which is long and interesting, and for which the seal has been carved to present a flat framed area.
Inscription (as written on the seal):
容 時 刻 耕
[ ] [ ] 於 石
京 [ ] [ ] 農
時 三 石 夫
冬 [ ] [ ]

geng shi nong nong [ ] ke yu [ ] shi [ ] shi [ ] [ ] san dong ri rong [ ] jing shi
(Something like...) A peasant farmer farms stone, engraved at ... stone ... , time ... three winter day, ?
The very generous Yugan Talovich offers this:
耕石農夫制(?)
刻於鄉(?)石坊
時年卅三冬月
客居京時
With this much improved translation: Stone ploughing farmer engraved this at the Home Stone Studio when he was 33 years old, in a winter month, while living as a guest in the capital.
Impression:

all thunder

I've done my own seal script based on traditional forms, translating terse Chinese proverbs. The form of the characters are intended to help convey the message. These were not intended for seals, but appeared in some etchings I did in 2002.
乾打雷不下雨
All thunder and no rain.

spotted translucent seal


The stone is translucent with dark inclusions, a bit like moonstone. The short choppy strokes on the inscription make the characters hard to decipher. The 2nd line, which is the date, might be interpreted in many ways due to the Chinese cyclical calendar.
Inscription: 竹能醫俗 甲辰三月 吉金治印, zhu neng yi su jia chen san yue ji jin zhi yin Bamboo cures worldliness 1724 (or 1784, 1844, 1904), 3rd month, Ji Jin Zhi seal (the final 4 characters, rather than being a name, might say "lucky gold cure").
Impression: 竹能醫俗, zhu neng yi su Bamboo cures worldliness

cloud(?) seal


A beautiful stone carved into the shape of a cloud, perhaps. Suggestions welcome.
Inscription: 光諸己亥重陽日, guang zhu ji hai chong yang ri, (reign of) Guangxu (1875-1908), (year) 1899, Chongyang Festival (aka Double Ninth Festival, ie 9th day of the 9th month)
Impression: 道不同不相為謀, dao bu tong bu xiang wei mou, If our paths are different we won't worry.

"chess" seal



This is complex: a seal depicting a board game, like the Japanese "go," which was played in China long, long ago. On one side the game, on the other a shack (hermit's hut) with overhanging trees and in the background, mountains. On the top and sides are phrases, proverbs; on the bottom, another. So...
Inscription, top: 如意, ru yi, as you like ("whatever you wish"); Side (top left photo): 心圫(?)光明宜増壽, xin yu(?) guang ming yi zeng shou, a clear conscience prolongs life; Side (middle left): 精神爽朗[ ]康强, jing shen shuang lang [ ] kang qiang, a clear mind makes for good health.
Impression: 校州譚儀中儀父, xiao Zhao Tan yi zhong yi fu
(Something like) Officer Zhao Tan [ceremonies ... father]. I don't know how to render the second phrase as the character for ceremonies/rites/appearance, 儀, appears twice.

horse seal


A horse, head turned back, reclining on a carved stone. The stone itself is a translucent orange/pink, with black toward the horse's rear.
Inscription: 山水癮, shan shui yin, addicted to landscape
Impression: 山川癖, shan chuān pǐ, addicted to landscape

somersaults on knives


I've done my own seal script based on traditional forms, translating terse Chinese proverbs. The form of the characters are intended to help convey the message. These were not intended for seals, but appeared in some etchings I did in 2002.
刀件上翻筋(斗), dao jian shang fan jin (dou)
Turning somersaults on knives.

dragon seal


A sturdy, squarish dragon atop a (cracked) base. I'm confused about the inscription and impression. As always, help is welcome.
Impression:(b&w) 完白山人 wan bai shan ren which could be the carver's name as there is a carver with approximately that studio name who lived 1743-1805. Or it could mean what it says: completed white mountain man (contented hermit on White Mountain?).
Inscription: contains the same characters plus 印 yin 'seal.'

triangular seal


A very efficient seal design, with two impressions contained within the three sides, the third side having a string for easy carrying.
Inscriptions:如意 ru yi, as you wish (center photo): 吉羊 ji xiang, luck, auspicious.
Impressions: same as above but in two different seal script styles. According to the Shanghai Museum, the top, flowery, script, is '"Niao Chong Script", which takes strokes imitating shapes of bird, worm, fish and even some abstract patterns. This peculiar script first appeared on bronze vessels and became popular ... from the Spring and Autumn to the Warring States.'

ivory dragonturtle


My only ivory seal. No side inscriptions, and the impression is still unknown (to me), though the bottom left character (b&w) is 寶 bao, treasure. The two to the right side are tough to figure out.

poetic seal


An ambitious bit of carving here. The text of (apparently) a poem is carved in relief around all four sides of this columnar block. I don't know the poem, but it says in essence:
During the Chuan(?) dynasty, at the Han (Chinese) border
At the great wall [] man has not yet returned
Let's have a heroic officer stationed at this spot
To prevent the barbarian forces invading on their horses through the mountains
(Thanks to Alan Ho)

The two characters on the side say lao tie, old iron. I don't know what the seal impression says but it's pretty nice,