NEW YORK, NY.- A trend in Chinese art collecting is on the rise at Gianguan Auctions in New York City and it is as personal as one’s own signature. Businessmen, artists, and collectors are identifying themselves by a stone-carved signature seal that was originally used to identify name, status and position of emperors and scholars. The carvings have inspired active bidding lately at Gianguan Auctions, making the seals the gallery's best selling items.

A strong collection of seals dots the upcoming Fall Asia Week auction at Gianguan in New York City on September 9th.

The most notable is Lot 74, a large octagonal shoushan carving with reticulated dragon knop whose script says 侯官之皇, King of (侯官 - a town in southern province of Fuzhou.) Only in a town far down the coast from Beijing could a small town minister declare himself King without risking his head. The 6-inch tall seal weighs in at 3-pounds. It probably belonged to a strong general or minister with attendant at the scholar's desk to help him put it on paper. ($1,500-$3,000).

One of the seals is attributable to Ming philosopher Wang Shou. It is Lot 41, of tianhuang, the finest of stones, and is a column topped by a Bixie, the mythical dragon that wears a turtle shell. The script reads "The Sunrise Shines Through the Million Households.” ($2,000-$3,000)

In many cases, Gianguan catalog offers a translation of the script in Chinese. (For collectors who do not read Chinese, gallery specialists are happy to translate.) The inscriptions contain personal information, sometimes a poem, occasionally a philosophical statement.

Well-carved seals of jade, songhua, furong, shoushan, tianhuang and coral can be purchased for $1,000 to $4,000.

The seal collection highlights an auction of exceptional properties, including Buddhist art from Tibet (Lot 270, a gilt-bronze thangka of Avalokiteshvara, the human manifestation of the eternal Buddha Amitabh. The mantra Om A Hum is engraved on the work, which is similar to items in the 2014 Asia Society exhibition “Golden Visions of Densatil, A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery.” $40,000–$60,000) and a collection of early headrests (including Lot 254, a Warring States jade rarity with a ruyi shaped headrest above evil-thwarting hogs at rest.)

Other collections include Chinese ceramics, Zisha teapots and early Chinese headrests.