East Asia, China, late Ming to early Qing Dynasty, ca. 17th to 19th century CE. A fine "gongshi" also known as a scholar's rock or stone, this example is a naturally formed piece of gray limestone that stands upright on a wooden base with a naturally craggy and chiseled profile. This weathered and eroded form suggests that this rock was collected and displayed because of its striking appearance - naturally shaped by water to create the unique craigs and crevices. It is accompanied by a low, dark cherry-colored wood base of twisting and sinuous gnarled shape. The term "scholar's stone" is traditionally used to describe rocks of a distinctive shape, color, and texture, with an appearance impressive enough to be deemed fitting for meditation in a scholar's studio or to display in a garden. Stones such as this were prized for their resemblance to mountains, landscapes, texture, and resonance tone when tapped. Note the petite seashells and marine encrustations tucked into some of the crags and crevices! Size: 12" W x 28.3" H (30.5 cm x 71.9 cm); 33" H (83.8 cm) on included custom stand.

Gongshi are part of the Chinese tradition of venerating beautiful stones which extends back to the Neolithic, when prized geological specimens were placed into tombs as offerings. In the Song Dynasty, Chinese writers composed essays and catalogues dedicated to rocks; artists began to paint them in elegant compositions that celebrated their natural qualities as evocative of larger forms in the landscape like prominent mountains or mythological creatures like dragons. A Chinese scholar would have displayed this example in his studio so that he and other members of the literati could contemplate its contours, perhaps serving the same function as Italian Renaissance studiolo paintings - an object of outward gaze that facilitates inward reflection and contemplation, an aesthetic exercise of the intellect. Being an object from the earth rather than a manmade painting, gongshi allow for a more natural lens through which one can ponder the inherent relationship of man, nature, and the cosmos.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-M. Kobiashi collection, Hawaii, USA, 1960 to 2000

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#168907

Natural weathering of stone. Intact and excellent with nice encrustations.