Chinese Stone Picture Rock, Framed

A landscape nobody painted.

This picture rock, framed, comes from China, of indeterminate age, in stone. Scholars and collectors in China have long prized stones whose natural markings suggest mountains and clouds, and they set them in frames or screens to be contemplated as one would a painting. Here a pale gray patch reads easily as an open sky. Below it, folded bands of rust, brown and slate rise like ridges, with fine light veins running down through them. A dark wooden frame with rounded corners keeps it all in order. Just over 34 inches wide and 19.5 high.

Credit goes to geology.