Chinese "Fossil Bamboo" on Hardwood Base

Dark veins cut diagonally across a field of golden blades, like a path through tall grass.

This "fossil bamboo" on hardwood base comes from Hunan Province, China. It is fossilized crystal. Chinese collectors have long prized stones whose natural patterns suggest landscapes or plants, and this leaf-patterned type is popularly known as fossil bamboo. The broad oval slab is polished across its face, crowded with spiky golden and cream crystal forms over a gray-green ground. Two darker streaks run from the top toward the center. A fitted dark wood stand with a stepped plinth holds it upright. It is 23 inches wide and 38 high.

Nature painted it, and somebody else supplied the frame.