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Image Not Available for Seal, "The Plum Resembles Me" (Mei hua si wo)
Seal, "The Plum Resembles Me" (Mei hua si wo)
Image Not Available for Seal, "The Plum Resembles Me" (Mei hua si wo)

Seal, "The Plum Resembles Me" (Mei hua si wo)

Date1835
Label TextYang Xie was a famous seal carver from Wujiang, Jiangsu province. Like other scholars of his time, he was deeply interested in epigraphy—the study of ancient bronzes and stone stelae and the inscriptions on them—and his carving style was influence by his studies. The characters on the base of the seal are inverse. After seal paste is applied, pressing on a paper surface reveals the motto: “the plum resembles me,” a grand statement that the user’s nature is as lofty as the plum—the most admirable of all flowering plants.
Object number2011.4.1
ProvenanceAcquired by Chang Chu'ng Frankel during the Sino Japanese War (1937 - 1945); to Seattle Art Museum 2011
Photo CreditImage taken by Beth Mann
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pure Amusements: Wealth, Leisure, and Culture in Late Imperial China, Dec. 24, 2016 - May 15, 2022.Published ReferencesGao Xiang, "Si Mei Ju--Zhang Chonghe de yinzhang shoucang," Shoucangjia, no. 9, 2004, pp. 43-46, 46 Mimi Gates et al, Fragrance of the Past: Chinese calligraphy and painting by Ch'ung-ho Chang Frankel and friends, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 2006, 22 Bai Qianshen, Zhang Chonghe Shishu huaxuan, Beijing: Sanluan shudian, 2010, p. 210
Credit LineGift of Chang Ch'ung-ho and Hans Frankel from their collection
Dimensions2 x 1 in. (5.1 x 2.5 cm)
MediumShoushan stone
Chinese
18th-19th century
Object number: 33.1671
Opium pipe
Chinese
19th century
Object number: 57.121
Crystal
Chinese
1736-1795
Object number: 33.121
Snuff bottle, eight panel decoration
Chinese
1723-1735
Object number: 33.907
two views
Chinese
18th - 19th century
Object number: 33.952
Photo: Paul Macapia
Chinese
1780-1850
Object number: 96.39.1
Pendant
Nepalese
late 18th - early 19th century
Object number: 70.67
Stone curved bead
Japanese
3rd-6th century
Object number: 50.132