Interesting Ideas: Creating a Chop with modern Technology

Hand Carved Clay Chop

I first become aware of the ‘chop’ when I studied Art History and more specifically Japanese woodblock prints of which Andy and I have several of them. Our prints are from the 1860 – 1890 time period. The chop however has been use for centuries.  According to the website learnchinesehistory.com, Chinese chops, or seals, were used to inscribe a person’s name or family name onto items such as government documents, art and or literary works. Chinese chops were used since the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BCE) and allowed the creator or document signer to place their name on the object. 

Chinese chops were also seen as a work of art when the carver, after carving the chop end (the end with the signature on it), would then carve the other end into an animal or other kinds of characters. In addition to signatures, other chops or carvings include words or phrases, or family mottoes.

I have two chops. The first one I made in clay, and it is my name designed or perhaps organized in such a way that Kim Putnam forms a square shape. It is rather crude in construction and the letters have an irregularity about them which is fine for a work of art and as a signature but perhaps not so great as a seal or label for my company Palisade Posh, especially since that name is much longer. This then got me thinking….

3D Printed Chop

Would it be possible to create a chop using a 3-D printer, of which Andy happens to have one! With this idea percolating in the back of my mind, I reached out to my friend Lisa who helped me design my business logo and font for the card and ran the idea past her, she then put together a jpeg of the words ‘Palisade Posh’ and sent it to me. I then gave it to Andy and together we worked to see if we could indeed actually print a chop using this modern printing technology… Andy did all the work, Lisa too… I was just the visionary behind it! 

Come to find out, yes you can print a chop!  It took a few tries to perfect it, but indeed this ancient art of chop making can also be created using a 3-D printer with good results!  Now each of my ‘functional’ ceramic work, starting with the Orchid pots will have ‘Palisade Posh’ stamped into them in clear beautiful lettering. Thank you modern technology, Andy and Lisa for helping me turn this idea into a reality! 

Modern Chop in Use