Chinese Monastery Stamp or Seal Depicting Archaic Symbol, Based

A tall block of mirrored red scrolls, as if a fern had been folded in half.

This monastery stamp or seal depicting an archaic symbol is from China, and dates to the early 20th century. It is soapstone. Archaic seal script is an ancient style of Chinese writing, and even in later periods seals were commonly carved in archaic scripts for their balanced, formal strokes. A vertical rectangular block with a bilateral design of swirling, leaf-like shapes in translucent white against a dense red ground. The corners are slightly chipped, and the surface is grainy. A slim black stand with a square base holds it up. It is 1.88 inches wide, 1.88 deep and 4.25 high.

Symmetry looks effortless until somebody has to carve it.