One of a pair of seals made from carved soapstone. Large rectangular block surmounted with a mythical beast, 'qilin', beside a bound pile of books. Incised on four sides with Chinese inscription copied from an ancient text relating to presenting stone-carving as gifts, which was published by Li Zi-zhen in the Xianfeng reign period of the Qing dynasty (1851-61). The seal is engraved on the underside in seal script in intaglio, which reads: 'ben xin qiong zhong rong hua' (a person's mind is poor when paying attention to only wealth and rank). Red cinnabar paste remains indicating that the seal has been used.
The stamp is in seal script, made up of six characters. The style of script on each of the four sides is different from that on the other three and varies from classical full form to simplified. One side includes a name: Li Zi Jiang. There may be a date on the last face of the seal. Bequeathed by Charles Kearley through the National Art Collections Fund.
