Silver Malay Seal (Malaysian)

Large Malay Silver Seal Matrix

This seal is unusually large and heavy. The face has not yet been formally carved and so essentially is a blank seal but the face has been etched with the word ‘Kelantan’ in Jawi (the Malay version of Arabic; Kelantan is a sultanate and modern-day state on the east coast of peninsula Malaysia.)

The engraving work on the silver casing is unmistakably Malay, with scrolling leaf and vine motifs and stylised orchid blooms against a tooled ground.

Seals were important among the Malays. As Teh Gallop (1994, p. 45) observes, Malay letters generally were not written by the sender but by a professional scribe. Instead of a signature, the sender’s seal usually was applied. Many Malay seals were made of silver, possibly emulating the Prophet Muhammad who is believed to have worn a silver signet ring inscribed with the Muslim creed.

Malay seals tend to be larger and round in form rather than square, oval or rectangular.

The item was acquired in the UK and almost certainly has been in the UK since the colonial era.

Teh Gallop. A., The Legacy of the Malay Letter, The British Library, 1994.

UK art market.