WESTERN HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 8)

The inscription on the seal face of this seal is possibly the name of a person with a surname Cao and first name Fuju. The calligraphic style of the inscription is very similar to that of two Han-dynasty seal rubbings, one reading Cao Qianqiu (fig. 1) and the other reading Cao Changxian (fig. 2), illustrated in Zhongguo xiyin zhuanke quanji, vol. 2, seals, Shanghai, 1999, p. 91, pls. 601 and 602. The character Cao on all three seals bear a remarkable resemblance.
According to Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian), the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, had a mistress with the surname Cao, who gave birth to Liu Bang’s eldest son Liu Fei. It is possible the current seal once belonged to a member of the Cao clan.