The signers of old objects can't be found because there is no systematic record.
In ancient times, letters, calligraphy and paintings were inscribed, and the name and year were written vertically with a brush to indicate the giver and the recipient when giving gifts, which is also a form of expression of calligraphy art. A calligraphy work should be completed in the overall sense, and the inscription can show the accomplishment and talent of a calligrapher. At present, many people sign their names on official documents and notes, which are generally written horizontally, indicating their legal effects.
There are various ways to express dates in calligraphy and painting works of past dynasties. By knowing the date, we can master the style and features of calligraphers' works in different periods when we read the calligraphy of the epigraph, and understand the age and historical background of a calligraphy work, which is helpful to improve our appreciation of calligraphy and painting. Ancient painters and painters generally used the method of combining the emperor's year number with the official calendar and the lunar calendar as needed to record the year, month and day. For example, Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting: "Yonghe is nine years old at the beginning of the ugly spring"; "Nine Years of Yonghe" is the year number of the emperor, and "Years in Guichou" is the year of the dry branch calendar. Another example is Shi Huizhan's "Buddha said that he was born": "Chen Taijian was eight years old and applied for it."