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Can someone please clear up my confusion about the sixth symbol (to make) in Qianlong reign marks. For example, one from Truong has 5 upward strokes at the top on the left-hand side while one from Sotheby has only three. Is there a meaningful difference? Is one genuine and the other fake? And which is correct? Many thanks for your help.

Neither is correct nor incorrect, they are merely differences in the way the seal script has been written.

Convention has it that horizontal strokes may be extended either upward or downward or not at all.

In the case of what you call "5 upward strokes", the outer two are in fact the middle stroke ends extended upward.

Consider, the broader universe of what is generally called 'seal script' contains a myriad versions of the same character, created over a couple of thousand years of the interpretation of scribes.

Prior to the unification of this so-called Greater Seal Script into what became known as Lesser Seal Script, under the orders and direction of Qi Shi Huang Di, each kingdom or dominion of what became China had their own language and ways of writing.

Subsequent writers of seal script have sometimes used these variants in order to create an aesthetic interpretation, or to show their personal erudition.

Many thanks for your most enlightened response. I really appreciate your knowledge and the sharing of it.

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