Chinese Scholar's Rock on Rosewood Base

It has one shoulder, a slight lean, and the air of someone listening.

This scholar's rock on a rosewood base comes from Yingde, in Guangdong Province, China, and is Yingde stone. In China, a rock of good character could hold a place of honor on a scholar's desk or in a garden court, valued for the way it invited contemplation. This one is a tall, cracked slab of cool grey, with a lumpy outcrop swelling from one side and a flat, angled top. Its dark base is lobed and stepped, on small feet. Thirty-eight inches high.

Stand in front of it long enough and it starts to resemble someone you know.