Chinese Monastery Stamp or Seal Depicting Poem

Angular characters sprawl across a round-cornered block, with red ink still in the grooves.

This monastery stamp or seal depicting a poem is from China, and dates to the early 20th century. It is soapstone. Seals are used in China to sign and authenticate documents and works, and monasteries commonly kept their own for marking texts and certificates. Clearly, a thick block with softly rounded edges shows a disc of tightly packed characters set in reddish-brown. The body is grey with darker marbling, and a rim of worn pale surface surrounds the carved face. It is 3.13 inches wide, 1.63 deep and 3.13 high.

Compact, chiseled and still bleeding red from every line.