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The red that makes the mark.
Also known as: Cinnabar paste, Vermilion seal ink
The oil-based cinnabar paste used to ink an East Asian seal.
Inks a seal face for impression on paper or silk.
Contexts: History
Oil-based rather than water-based, so the impression does not bleed into the paper fibres and the carved detail survives — which is why seal impressions centuries old are still legible on paintings.
Contexts: History
A thick paste of pigment in oil, conventionally vermilion, held in a shallow circular container into which the seal face is pressed before impression.