Collector’s seals play a crucial role in establishing the provenance, or history of ownership, of a work of art or a book. The history of ownership is an essential component of establishing the value of a piece.
Collector's seals, or shoucang yinzhang, are distinctive marks of ownership and connoisseurship used by collectors of art, books, and other valuable objects in China. These seals are more than just ownership markers; they are also expressions of personal taste, aesthetic values, and engagement with the piece being marked. The seals help to identify who has collected the object, and what they thought of its merit.