Chinese Gongshi or Scholar's Rock

It looks like raw steak. The Chinese name is no kinder: chicken blood.

This gongshi, or scholar's rock, is ji xue shi, or chicken blood stone, from Zhejiang Province, China, with a hardwood base. Its age is indeterminate. Chinese scholars and officials set stones like this on fitted bases in their studios, as miniature mountains to study and contemplate away from the bustle of office. The surface is a saturated red-orange, crossed by white veins and black streaks, and looks polished smooth. It rises in a rounded peak from a stepped dark base with scrolled feet. Twenty and a half inches high.

Mountains are usually less forward.