A seal is a tool for making an impression in candles, clay, paper, or other media, including embossment on paper, as well as made impressions. The original purpose was to authenticate documents, wrapper for one such as a modern envelope, or a container cover or package holding a valuable item or other object.
The sealing device is also referred to as the matrix or die seal; the tracks it creates as seal impression (or, less frequently, sealing ). If the impression is made purely as a relief resulting from greater pressure on the paper in which the high part of the matrix touch, this seal is known as dry seal ; in other cases the ink or other liquid or liquid media is used, in a color other than paper.
In the most traditional forms of dry seal design on the matrix of seals in the intaglio (cut below the flat surface) and therefore the design on the impressions made is relieved (lifted above the surface). The design on the impression will be inverted (into mirror images) of the matrix, which is very important when scripts are included in the design, as is often the case. This would not be the case if the paper is embossed from the back, where the matrix and impression read the same way, and the matrices and impressions are both relieved. But engraved gems are often engraved with help, called cameo in this context, giving the impression of "anti-help" or intaglio when used as a seal. The process is basically a mold.
Most seals always give a single impression on a substantially flat surface, but on the seals of two medieval European sides with two matrices often used by institutions or authorities (such as town, bishop and king) to create two-sided or fully three- dimensional impressions in a candle, with a "tag", a piece of ribbon or a parchment strip, through it. This "pendent" seal display hangs beneath the authenticated document, where attachment tags are stitched or attached (one-sided seals are treated in the same way).
Some jurisdictions consider rubber stamps or special words that accompany signatures such as "seals" or "L.S." (Abbreviation of locus sigilli , "place seal") to be legal equivalent, ie. , an equally effective substitute, a seal.
In the United States, the word "seal" is sometimes assigned to seal design fax (in monochrome or color), which can be used in various contexts including architectural settings, on flags, or on official letterhead. So, for example, the Great Seal of the United States, among other uses, appears behind a one dollar bill; and some seals of the US states appear in the flag of each country. In Europe, although heraldic symbols and badges may be displayed in such contexts and on seals, the overall seal design rarely appears as a graphic symbol and is used primarily as originally intended: as an impression on the document.
The study of seals is known as sigillography or sphragistics.
Video Seal (emblem)
Ancient Near East
Seals are used in the earliest civilizations and are very important in the history of archeology and art. In ancient mesopotamia carvings or cylindrical seals engraved in stone or other materials used. It can be rolled out to create an impression on clay (which can be repeated indefinitely), and used as a label on merchandise shipping, or for other purposes. They are usually hollow and it is considered that they are worn on a rope or chain around the neck. Many have only images, often engraved very smoothly, without writing, while others have both. From the seal of ancient Egypt in the form of signet-rings (see below), including some with the names of kings, have been found; this tends to show only the name in the hieroglyph.
More recently, seals have been found in South Arabia that can be registered to the Himyarite age. One example shows a name written in Aramaic (Yits? Aq bar? Anina) which is engraved in reverse so that it can be read correctly in the impression.
Maps Seal (emblem)
Ancient Greek and Roman
From the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC to the Middle Ages, different types of seals were produced on the Aegean and Greek mainland. At the age of Early Minoan is formed from soft rock and ivory and shows certain characteristic forms. In the Middle Minoan era a new set for seal shape, motifs and materials appeared. Hard rocks require new engraving techniques. The Late Bronze Age is the time of par excellence of the lens-shaped seal and the seal ring, which continues into the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic period, in the form of a pictorially etched gem. This is a major luxury art form and becomes collected sharply, with King Mithridates VI from Pontus the first major collector according to Pliny the Elder. His collection fell as a booty to Pompey the Great, who kept it in a temple in Rome. Engraved gems continued to be produced and collected until the 19th century. Pliny also explains the importance of the seal ring, and how this ring time is worn on the little finger.
East Asia
Known as yinzhang (Chinese: ?? ) in China, injang in Korea, insh? in Japan, ? In Vietnam, seals have been used in East Asia as a form of written identification since the Qin Dynasty (221 BCE). The seal of the Han dynasty was impressed by the soft clay, but from the Tang dynasty ink made from cinnabar is usually used. Even in modern times, seals, often known as "chops" in everyday local English, are still frequently used rather than handwritten signatures to authenticate official documents or financial transactions. Both individuals and organizations have an official seal, and they often have multiple stamps of varying sizes and styles for various situations. East Asian seals normally bear the names of the people or organizations they represent, but they can also bear personal poetry or motto. Sometimes both types of seals, or large seals containing names and motto, are used to authenticate official documents. Seals are so important in East Asia that foreigners who often do business there also commission personalized seal engraving.
East Asia seals are carved from a variety of hard materials, including wood, soapstone, sea glass and jade. East Asian seals are traditionally used with red-oil based pastas consisting of finely ground cinnabar, which contrasts with the black ink traditionally used for ink brushes. Red chemical ink is more commonly used in modern times to seal documents. Seal engraving is considered a form of calligraphy in East Asia. Like calligraphy ink-brush, there are several styles of engraving. Some styles of engraving imitate calligraphy styles, but many styles are so stylish that the characters represented on the seals are difficult for untrained readers to identify. Seal engravers are considered artists, and, in the past, some famous calligrapher also became famous as an engraver. Some seals, carved by famous carvers, or owned by renowned artists or political leaders, have become valuable as works of art history.
Because seals are commissioned by individuals and carved by artists, each seal is unique, and the sculptors often personalize the seals they make. Seal materials and carving styles are usually tailored to the personality of the owner. Seals can be traditional or modern, or conservative or expressive. Seals are sometimes carved with the owner's zodiac animal at the top of the seal. The seal is also sometimes carved with a picture or calligraphy on its side.
Although it is a daily utilitarian tool of business in East Asia, other western and non-Asian people rarely see the Asian seal except for Asian paintings and calligraphy art. All the traditional paintings in China, Japan, Korea, and all of East Asia are watercolor paintings in silk, paper, or some other surface that can be attached by the red ink of the seal. East Asian paintings often contain many stamps, including one or two seals from artists, and seals from painting owners.
East Asia seal is the precursor to block printing.
Western Traditions
There is a direct lineage of seals used in the ancient world, to those used in medieval and post-medieval Europe, and so also for those used in legal contexts in the western world to this day. Seals have historically been most often impressed on wax sealing (often simply described as "wax"): in the Middle Ages, this generally comprised about two-thirds of beeswax to about one-third of some resins, but in the post-medieval period of resin other materials) dominate. During the early medieval black seal, or rather "bull" (from Latin), commonly used both in East and West, but with the exception of the document ("bull") issued by this leaden Papal Chancery. fallen authentication is not preferred in the western Christian world. The Byzantine Emperor sometimes issues a document with a golden seal, known as the Golden Bulls.
The wax seals were used quite regularly by most of the western royal chanceries around the end of the 10th century. In Britain, some wax seals survived the previous date of the Norman Conquest, although several previously known matrices, recovered from the archaeological context: the earliest was a golden two-sided matrix found near Postwick, Norfolk, and dated to the end of the 7th century; the next oldest is the mid-9th century matrix of a bishop of Ethylwald (probably ÃÆ' â € thelwold, Bishop of East Anglia). The practice of sealing the wax gradually moved the social hierarchy of kings and bishops to great figures, to little knights at the end of the 12th century, and to ordinary people in the mid-13th century. They also come for use by various corporate bodies, including cathedral chapters, municipalities, monasteries etc., to validate acts committed on their behalf.
Traditional candle seals continue to be used in high-status documents and ceremonies, but in the 20th century they are gradually replaced in many other contexts with inked or dried seals and with rubber stamps.
Although many instruments previously required seals for validity (eg deeds or agreements), it is now unusual in most western countries for civilians to use seals. In Central and Eastern Europe, however, as in East Asia, signatures alone are considered insufficient to authenticate any document in the business, and all managers, as well as many bookkeepers and other employees, have a personal seal, usually containing only text, and its position. This applies to all letters, invoices issued, and similar documents. In Europe, this is a plastic self-inking stamp.
Notaries also still use the seal every day. At least in the UK, every registered notary has an individual personal seal, registered with authority, which includes his name and pictorial emblem, often an animal - the same combination found in many seals of ancient Greece.
Practice sealing
Seals are used primarily to authenticate documents, especially those that carry some legal imports. There are two main ways in which a seal may be attached to a document. This can be applied directly to the face of paper or parchment (a apply seal ); or may hang off of it (a independent seal ). The permanent seal can be attached to a strap or ribbon (sometimes in the livery of the owner), or to the two ends of the parchment (or tag ), threaded through the cut or slit at the bottom of the edge of the document: often folded at this point (a plica ) to provide additional strength. Alternatively, the seal may be attached to a narrow strip of document material (again, in this case, usually parchment), sliced ​​and folded down, as a tail or tongue , but not detached. The object in all cases is to help ensure authenticity by maintaining the integrity of the relationship between the document and the seal, and to prevent reuse of the seal. If the forger tries to remove the applied seal from the document, it will almost certainly be broken. The attached seal is easily removed by cutting the rope or the parchment strip, but the forger will find it difficult to attach it to another document (at least because the rope or parchment is usually tied inside the seal), and will almost certainly destroy it.
In the Middle Ages, the majority of seals still exist. They are attached both to legal instruments and patent letters (ie open letters) conferring rights or privileges, which are intended to be available to all to be seen. In the case of important transactions or agreements, the seal of all parties to the arrangement as well as witnesses may be attached to the document, and after the execution will bring the seal. Most governments are still installing an independent seal to the patent letter.
Instead, the seal used initially is used to seal the closed document: that is, the document will be folded and the seal applied in such a way that the item can not be opened without the seal being damaged. The seals used are used in close letters (letters intended only for recipients) and parcels to indicate whether the item has been opened or damaged because it has left the sender, as well as providing proof that the item is actually from the sender and not the counterfeit. In the post-Middle Ages period, seals became commonly used in this way for private letters. A letter writer will fold the filled letters, pour the wax on the joints formed by the top of the page, and then attach the ring or other seal matrix. The government sometimes sends letters to citizens under the government seal only to their eyes, known as secret letters. In general, seals are no longer used in these ways except for ceremonial purposes. However, the applied seal is also used in legal instruments applied directly to the face of the document, so there is no need to damage it, and this usage continues.
Seal design
Historically, the majority of circular seals are in design, although ovals, triangles, shield-shapes and other patterns are also known. Design generally consists of graphic symbols (sometimes, but not always, incorporating heraldic devices), surrounded by text ( legend ) that runs around it. The legends most often consist only of the words "Meterai [owner's name]", either in Latin or in the local language: the Latin word Sigillum is often abbreviated as simple S: . Sometimes, the legend takes the form of a slogan.
In the Middle Ages it became customary for women's seals and ecclesiastics to be given the shape of vesika (tapered oval). The central emblem often becomes a figure that stands from its owner, or (in the case of an ecclesiastical seal) a saint. Medieval city people use different symbols but some have seals that include pictures related to their work.
Sealing candles are naturally yellowish or pale brown, but may also be red or green artificially (with many variations of intermediaries). In some relics of medieval kingdom, different wax colors are usually used for various functions or state departments, or to distinguish between grants and decisions made from the shorter document duration.
The matrix for independent seals is sometimes accompanied by smaller counter-seals, which will be used to impress the small emblem behind the impression. In some cases, seals and counter-seals will be stored by two different individuals, to provide a double check element on the authentication process. Sometimes, large formal seals, which may be in custody of chancellor officials, must be sealed by an individual whose name has been enacted (king, or mayor of a city): counter-like. The seal may take the form of a seal-ring, and will always be smaller. Other independent seals have double sides, with large obses and setbacks of the same size. The impression will be formed by pressing the "sandwich" of the matrix and wax firmly together using a roll or, then, press-lever or tap the screw. Certain medieval seals are still more complex, involving two levels of impression on each side of the candle that will be used to create three-dimensional depth scenes.
On the death of the seal holder, as a sign of continuity, a son and heir may assign a new seal that uses the same design symbols and elements as his father used. It is likely that this practice was a factor in the emergence of hereditary inheritance in Western Europe in the 12th century.
Church urn
The use of seals by rich people and positions was common before the Christian era, but high Church officials adopted the custom. An insinuated satire in one of St. Augustine's letters (217 to Victorinus) indicates that he used a seal. The practice spread, and was apparently accepted by King Clovis I at the beginning of the Merovingian dynasty.
Then the ecclesiastical synod requires that the letters under the bishop be given to the priest when for some reason they are legally discharged from their own dioceses. Such a ruling was enacted in Chalon-sur-SaÃÆ''ne in 813. Pope Nicholas I in the same century complained that the bishops of DÃÆ'Â'le and Reims had, " contra morem " (contrary to custom) , send their letters to him without being sealed. The custom of bishops who have seals probably since this date is considered quite common.
In the collection of the British Museum, the earliest preserved bishops stamp is the seal of William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham (1081-96) and St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (1093-1109).
Architects, surveyors and professional engineers
Seals are also affixed to architectural or engineering construction documents, or land survey images, to certify licensed professional identities that oversee development. Depending on the authority that has jurisdiction for this project, this seal can be embossed and signed, stamped and signed, or in certain situations the computer generated original seal fax validated by a digital certificate owned by a professional can be attached to the security of a protected computer file. The identity of the professional seal determines the legal liability for any errors or omissions, and in some cases the financial responsibility for their corrections and their area of ​​responsibility, E.G: "The State of Minnesota".
In some jurisdictions, especially in Canada, it is a legal requirement for professional engineers to seal documents in accordance with the Law and Regulation of the Technical Profession. Professional engineers may also be legally entitled to close any documents they prepare. The seal identifies the work performed by, or under the direct supervision of, a licensed professional engineer, and assures the recipient that the work complies with the standards expected of experienced professionals who take personal responsibility for their judgments and decisions.
Destruction of seal
The importance of the seal as an authentication tool requires that when the authority is handed over to the new hand the old seal must be destroyed and the newly created seal. When the pope died, it was the Cardinal Camerlengo's first task to get the Ring of the Fisherman, the papal papal mark, and to see that the whale was broken. A similar practice prevailed in the Middle Ages and often touched upon by historians, as it appears to have been the problem of several ceremonies. For example, about the death of Robert of Holy Island, Bishop of Durham, in 1283, the historian Robert Greystones reported: "After his burial, his seal was openly resolved in the presence of all by Mr. Robert Avenel." Matthew Paris gives a similar description of the termination of the seal of William from Trumpington, the abbot of St Albans, in 1235.
This practice is less evident in the case of medieval laypeople, but certainly occurs on certain occasions. The silver seal matrix has been found in the tombs of some 12th-century French queens. It may be deliberately buried as a way to undo it.
When King James II of England was overthrown in the Great Revolution 1688/9, he should have thrown the Great Seal of the Kingdom into the River Thames before his flight to France to ensure that the machine of government would cease to function. It is unclear how much truth there is in this story, but certainly the seal is found: James, William III and Mary's successors use the same Big Seal matrix, quite roughly adjusted - perhaps quite deliberately, to show the continuity of government.
The associated destruction practices were found among the blacksmiths: their touch marks (stamps used on hot metal to show who made them) were destroyed at their death.
Stamp Ring
The seal ring has a flat bezel, usually wider than the rest of the circle, which is decorated, usually in the intaglio, so that it will leave an elevated relief from the design when the ring is pressed into a soft sealing wax or the like. ingredients. They have been used since ancient times as individual personal seals. In recent times the design is generally a symbol, made by engraving, either in metal or engraved gems (generally semimulia). Agate is a material that often, especially agate or banded agate like sardonyx; the curved ribbon makes an impression in contrast to the ground. Most of the smaller classical engraved gems may be originally used as a seal ring, or as a seal on a necklace. Metal seal rings can also be cast, which may be cheaper but produce weaker materials.
The use of the seal ring (from the Latin "signum" meaning sign) returned to ancient Egypt; Unique personal signatures were not developed in ancient times and most documents require seals. The seals of Pharaoh are mentioned in Genesis. Genesis 41:42: "Unleashed the signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh placed it in Joseph's hand, put it in the garment of fine linen, and put a chain of gold around his neck."
Although less common today, and very rarely actually used for intended purposes as seals, seal rings are still worn, especially among armigerous, in Europe and some other cultures.
Because it is used to prove the authority of its carrier, the ring has also been seen as a symbol of its power, which is one of the explanations for its inclusion in certain royal kingdoms. After the death of a Pope, the destruction of his seal ring is a determined action clearing the way for sede vacante and the subsequent election of the new Pope.
The seal ring is also used as a souvenir or membership attribute, for example, a class ring (usually bearing the school's emblem or symbol), as an alternative to one with a stone. Someone may also have their initials engraved as a sign of their personal stature; However, historically, the monogram ring is for the less noble class.
At least since the 16th century there is also a pseudo-signet ring where the engraving is not reversed (mirror image), as it should if the impression was read correctly.
Figurative usage
- Seal of the Confessional
- Record sealing
Approval seal
The Seal of Approval expression refers to a formal agreement, regardless of whether it involves a seal or other external sign, by an authorized person or institution.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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