Tuin (套印, nested seals) designates a set of different sized seals which can be kept within each other for easy carrying. This set of seals belonged to Yi Ha-Eung, the father of Emperor Gojong. The innermost and smallest piece has all six faces engraved, whereas the four larger pieces have five faces engraved and are hollowed out to enclose smaller pieces. Hence the total number of engraved faces in this series is twenty-six.

Yi Ha-eung, also well-known as Heungseon-daewongun (興宣大院君, Prince Father Heungseon), was the son of Prince Namyeon and the father of Joseon’s 26th King Gojong. His adult name was Sibaek (時伯), his nickname Seokpa (石坡), and his posthumous title Heonui (獻懿).

He was also a distant relative of Kim Jeong-Hui, the most influential scholar artist of the time, who taught him calligraphy and painting in his youth. Yi was especially brilliant at producing ink sketches of orchids leading Kim Jeonghui to highly praise his works as having “reached a profound state (of art)”. Although the catalogue comprising impressions of Yi’s seals, the Seal Catalogue of the Hall of Peaceful Elderly Years (Noan-dang-inbo, 老安堂印譜), is currently lost, twenty-five of his seal-marks are found in the Rendezvous of Seals from the Land of Hibiscus (Geunyeok-insu, 槿域印藪) compiled by Oh Se-chang.

Famous seal engravers such as Jeong Hak-gyo and Yu Han-ik participated in making the seals of Yi Ha-eung.