Tham Ze Hoe, 46, said such an art form is steeped in Chinese culture dating back hundreds of years.

“This kind of art is unique in a way that you can put your ideas and identity into it and use it to represent yourself,” he said.

The evolution of Chinese characters intrigued the brothers and drew them to the trade. Ze Hoe also attributes their passion for the art form to the environment they grew up in.

“Our grandfather was a carpenter and our dad is an artist. So we are good with our hands,” he said of himself and his brother, Ze King, 43.

Ze Hoe said their interest in engraving Chinese characters into seals began as a hobby while they were still in secondary school.

When their father, Tham Siew Inn, a prolific painter, moved his family from Klang to Melaka in 2001, the brothers decided to take their hobby to the next level by opening a Chinese seal-engraving business on Jonker Street here.

After 15 years, when the street became more populated with other traders, the brothers shifted their business, King’s Seal Engravings, into their father’s gallery on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock.

Ze Hoe said that like any craft, engraving seals requires a lot of practice. Having a deep appreciation of the culture is also “a plus because you will know more about the background and go deeper into it”, he added.

“This entire art is about Chinese characters and history.”

He explained that engraving seals usually involves carving out a person’s name, then translating it into “seal script”, an ancient style of writing Chinese characters.

The stones on which the characters are engraved are mostly imported from different regions in China. Some of them come with intricate designs such as Chinese mythical creatures.

“We then copy the writings in mirror image onto the stone, which first needs to be sanded and flattened,” Ze Hoe said.

The stone is then secured onto a vice so that the intricate writings can be worked on using carving knives.

The lines that are carved out are ink-free and are known as “characters in white”. It is a painstaking process, taking about 15 minutes just to complete one character.

“Other than writings, we also do pictures, logos and portraits. But the tricky part is that there are only two tones, black and white. So it is important to get the pictures right,” he said.

Asked how he and his brother intend to preserve this traditional art form, Ze Hoe said he prefers to leave it up to their next of kin to learn the skill if they wish to.

“Just like my dad, he didn’t force anything on us. We grew up in an environment where if we liked doing something, we went ahead and learnt it.

“When habits or different elements of culture are attractive to the people, they will want to learn more about it. If it is less welcomed, it will fade away. That is the way of things.”

King’s Seal Engravings
49, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock
Taman Kota Laksamana
75200 Melaka

Business hours: 10am-6pm (closed on Wednesdays)