Embossment (chop mark)
Also known as: Chop mark · Blind stamp · Dry stamp
A small inkless impression pressed into the paper — usually in a corner — identifying the printmaker, publisher, or gallery. A traditional mark of authenticity alongside the signature.
An embossment, or chop mark, is a small relief impression pressed into the paper of a fine-art print. It carries no ink — the design is visible only as a raised shape in the paper surface. The chop usually identifies the printer, the publisher, or occasionally the gallery, and sits discreetly in a corner of the lower margin.
The convention comes from traditional Asian printmaking (where the "chop" was the artist's or publisher's personal seal pressed into the print with red cinnabar paste) and the European tradition of blind-stamping paper with a producer's mark. The modern fine-art print convention is the dry variant — no ink — pressed mechanically with a brass or steel die during the finishing stage of the edition.
Why chops appear on fine-art prints. They authenticate the workshop or studio that produced the edition, separately from the artist's signature. For collaborative editions (a publisher commissioning an artist with a particular master printer), all three names matter — and the chop carries the printer or publisher half of that record.
Chops aren't universal. Many contemporary giclée editions don't carry one, since the production workflow is digital rather than craft-pulled and the publisher/printer/gallery are often the same entity. Where they appear, they're a useful tertiary verification mark alongside the signature and the certificate of authenticity.