A SMALL DARK-HONEY SOAPSTONE SEAL
Signed Chen Julai (1904-1984), and cyclical date jiaxu year, corresponding to 1934, the seal form possibly earlier
The square top surmounted by a seated mythical winged beast bixie coiling slightly to one side, the stone with slight translucency at the edges and with attractive orange and darker inclusions, the four-character seal to the base reading Dao fa ziran (Dao models itself on self-being), the inscription on the side of the seal reading 'carved by Julai in the summer of jiaxu year.'
2 1/16in (5.2cm) high and 7/8in (2.2cm) square
Footnotes:
1934年 陳巨來 壽山石辟邪紐印章

邊款：甲戌年夏六月巨來刻石

印文：道法自然

Chen Jia (1904-1984), stylename Julai, native of Zhapu town, Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, is a well-known seal carver, calligrapher, painter and poet active in the 20th-century Shanghai. He studied art with the famous artist Zhao Shuru (1874-1945) when he was 20-year-old, and entered the social circle of artists such as Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) and Wu Hufan (1894-1968), who commissioned a great number of seals from Chen Julai. For an example, see a tianhuang soapstone seal with chilong finial Chen Julai carved for Wu Hufan, reading mingxin juepin, sold at Xiling Yinshe Auction Co.Ltd., Hangzhou, on 13 December 2019, lot 298, currently in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum; see http://www.ncha.gov.cn/art/2020/7/7/art_723_161723.html.