Chinese Philosopher's Stone on Stand

A well-chosen stone is the focal point of both a traditional Chinese garden and a scholar's studio - evoking the complexities of nature and inspiring creative thought. In the spirit ...

Scholarly pursuits such as painting, calligraphy, and poetry were a highly respected and revered subculture in ancient China, and demanded their own set of tools that were not only functional, but also beautiful. One of the "Four Treasures of the Study," inkstones such as this were used to mix dry ink with water for use in calligraphy painting. This 19th century inkstone is guarded by a mythical fu dog, or shizi, depicted with open jaws and a long mane of flowing curls. Resembling a Buddhist fly whisk...

The Chinese scholar rock on offer here is a wonderful example of Ying (also known as Yingde stone), a less common type than Lingbi or Taihu. Gray in color, it has an extraordinary up...

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...