China Natural Stone "Painting" Moonlight Earth

This Chinese extraordinary natural stone painting of a mountain range in white and gray colors is called a dream stone Shih-hua;. They are cut from historic Dali marble found in the Cangshan mountains of western China. These mysterious mountains, unique in the world, are known for yielding incredible and fantastic natural landscaped works of art created over tens of millions of years from mineral inclusions that affected the process of ancient organic material which transformed into limestone and finally resulted in marble- a metamorphic hard stone. This art form is centuries of years old since the Ming dynasty. Dream stones became favored art in the west particularly since the 19th century when French collectors named them Pierres de reve. This thin marble stone painting is approximately 1/4 inch thick and is cut from a large slab of rough material revealing incredible patterns in soft white and gray colors. History of White and Gray dream stone paintings: “White and Gray” dream stone paintings known in China as Shui Mo or Chinese painting stone...

From our most recent Japanese acquisitions Hand-Painted Double Tea Master Scroll (2) entitled: Tea Ceremony Rules of Matsudaira Fumai (1751-1818) Includes a later wooden collecto...

Extraordinary Natural work, one of a kind Framed in our own custom "Arts & Crafts" hard wood frame. This Chinese extraordinary natural stone painting is of a Minimalist depiction of what appear to be sand dunes in natural sand and light colors. This is called a dream stone Shih-hua. They are cut from historic Dali marble...

Extraordinary natural work, one of a kind. Custom framed, This Chinese extraordinary natural stone "painting" of a portal view of detailed sea of red and blue waves could remind u...

A six panel screen in black paint with overall gilt scrolled and carved and painted wood applied low relief decoration with some Mother-of-Pearl details. Scenes with pavilions and fi...

A six-panel painted folding floor screen from Korea circa early 20th century. This type of screen is called Chaekgeori (books and things) which is quite unique to Korea. It became popular at the end of 18th century favored and encouraged by King Jeongjo (1752-1800) as a political tool to promote social conservatism such as the traditional Confucianism value, especially considered important in a time when waves of new ideology influx came to Korea. Initially commissioned for the royal court, they became increasingly popular with the scholars of noble and affluent households and were used widely in their halls and studies. Early screens were painted with trompe-l’oeil bookcases displaying books and arrays of collectibles. Later, the bookcases were eliminated to focus on the assemblage of neatly stacked books and objects of scholarly pursue. On this screen, the six panels were neatly presented and framed in woven brocade borders. Among the stacked volumes, one can find many fine porcelain vases with flowers, potted orchids, pen holders with brush pens and scroll paintings, incense burner, ink stone, teapot, fan with ink painting, vessels of fruits, exotic plants such as lotus, plumeria and even a pair of glasses. It feels like a pleasant visual measure hunting for the viewers. Several words in Chinese found their way into the picture as well, including filial (xiao), longevity (shou) and luck (fu). The painting was done in a meticulous way with no details overlooked and also with a rather western still-life dimensional perspective. In a rather unusual maximal but also minimalistic way, the screen exudes a historical charm with a folky flair but appears modern at the same time. Each panel is 17.5"w by 70.2"h. For general information on the subject see reference: Chaekgeori the Power and Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens...

Taihu stones are naturally occurring limestone rocks native to Lake Tai in Jiangsu Province, China. They are revered as scholars' rocks and meditation ston...

A natural malachite rock specimen with striking green and black colors fitted on a wood stand for viewing and meditating. The front of the gemstone features tight and small polished botryoidal form, revealing a beautiful, mottled pattern with intense colors of contrasting green and black. The back is natural with exposed malachite fibers fused in the bedrock. The slab form rock is displayed as a viewing stone on a fitted wood base by an American collector of Chinese scholar rocks. Known as "Peacock Rock" in Chinese, there was a more recent tradition in China (from Qing Dynasty and on) to collect the exotic gemstones such as malachite and turquoise specimen...