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estebanana -> RE: "Luthiers share your creations" thread (Nov. 1 2012 16:38:19)
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Yes, I was in China many years ago in an art history program and as part of the program I learned how to carve the little stone seals that are used to stamp on Chinese brush paintings. I think we all have these very personal ways we can make a mark on our guitars, the stamps are something enjoy making and I'm doing them more and more. I have make labels for some customers which were stamps instead of my name.
Once a potential buyer told me he thought a Chinese stamp inside a Spanish guitar was a bad idea, but I'm not Spanish and I did study in China so to me it's honestly a real expression. Funny after I said that he asked me to make a rosette with words from a poem in Latin... I would have, for the right amount of silver crossing my palms.
I see other guitar makers doing these kind of things I think it's cool. Hopefully it not too over the top, you can go overboard.
Most people don't know this but the reason for those seals stamped on old Chinese pictures a calligraphy is not always to identify the artist by his seal with his name on it. Often times through the history of the painting a collector, scholar or even the emperor would stamp a favorite picture with his own seal and perhaps even write a poem on the painting in an area on the margin. It could make the painting more important because some collectors and scholars had such a high reputation as a person who knew about painting and had an important collection that their seal lent an imprimatur to the picture that increased it's cultural value. It's almost much like having Paco de Lucia or Tomatito sign your guitar, only in Chinese culture at that time it meant even more. It would be like Paco writing a letra he choose just for you on your guitar.
To put your own stamp in your guitar does not mean the same thing, but if later on someone pasted a small paper with stamp in there I would see it in the Chinese tradition. Although I doubt that would happen. At this point it is simply my off beat way of claiming authorship on an object, and I would rather use these stamps than a label with a name... some buyers prefer the name, some like the stamp.
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