Ancient and Later Chinese Seal Albums

In 2002 and 2003, the Tokyo National Museum received a gift from Mr. Kobayashi Toan (Yoko) of 423items he had collected over many years, including rare Chinese seal albums and orthographic materials.

Mr. Kobayashi Toan played a leading role in the field of seal carving in Japan for a long time, as an artist with a precise style who used a sharp carving technique. Furthermore, his in-depth knowledge of Chinese characters and seals led him to publish many articles and books on the subjects from fairly early in his career. For these remarkable achievements, and for his highly sophisticated style based on his critical intellect, Mr. Kobayashi was recommended as a member of the Art Academy in 1993 and as a Person of Cultural Merits (Bunka Koro-sha) in 1999, and in 2003 he was appointed honorary vice president of the Sphragistic Society of China. Mr. Kobayashi passed away on August 13, 2007, three years after he received an Order of Cultural Merit in 2004.

In 1976 the Tokyo National Museum received a donation of albums containing 198 ancient Chinese seals and albums of 247 later Chinese seals, which are known as the Bakunan Seal Collection, from the industrialist Mr. Yokota Minoru (1894-1974). Mr. Yokota authored a bibliography of seal albums, but he died before it was published. Shortly after his death, the book was edited by Mr. Kobayashi and published under the title "Bibliography of Chinese Seal Albums".

"Chinese Classical Seal Albums ('yuanqian' edition, a compilation of impressions made from original seals) is one of the excellent albums from the Bakunan Collection. It was acclaimed by Mr. Kobayashi, who said "it was not just a representative piece of the Collection but should also be placed, as a first-rate ancient seal album, at the top position among the seal albums in Japan".

This exhibition features seal albums from Mr. Kobayashi's collection together with "Chinese Classical Seal Albums" from the Yokota collection to present an overview of the history of Chinese seal albums. We would like to express our deep respect for the distinguished scholarship and goodwill of the two donors and pray for the repose of their souls.