A SMALL ARCHAIC SILVER SEAL WITH BIXIE KNOB Eastern Han dynasty - Jin dynasty, A.D. 2nd/3rd centuryA SMALL ARCHAIC SILVER SEAL WITH BIXIE KNOBEastern Han dynasty - Jin dynasty, A.D. 2nd/3rd centuryCast with a mythical beast on top of a solid block, the winged bixie in a dynamic pose twisting to one side, the head raised and mouth open in a fierce snarl showing fangs and teeth, a pair of knobbed horns curled back behind the ears, the feet with sharp claws planted firmly to the base, the underside cast with four characters in seal script. 11/16in (1.8cm) high; 1/2 x 1/2in (1.2 x 1.2cm) at base東漢-晉 辟邪鈕《涅音私印》銀印The seal may be read as Nie Yin si yin (涅音私印), private seal of Nie Yin.Many Han dynasty seals with bixie knobs are recorded, but cast silver seals are very rare. Compare the gilt bronze seal with bixie knob in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated on the cover of A Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Bronze Seals Throughout the Dynasties in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, and illustrated in pp. 241-242, no. 170, described as Eastern Han dynasty.Another silver seal cast with bixie knob was illustrated by Lally in the annual exhibition of J. J. Lally & Co., Silver and Gold in Ancient China, New York, 2012, no. 4.