Chinese Monastery Stamp or Seal Depicting Poem

Observe a chunky little block is wrapped in dense seal-script characters, edge to edge.

This monastery stamp or seal depicting a poem is from China, and dates to the early 20th century. It is soapstone. Poetry has long been prized in Chinese scholarly culture, and lines of verse are a familiar subject for seals and other objects of the writing table. The face of this squarish block is packed with intricately carved, angular characters arranged in tight columns. The surface is cream with reddish-brown ink in the cuts, and the top edge shows a small slip of paper. It is 2 inches wide, 1.88 deep and 3.25 high.

Every inch is taken, and none of it wasted.