Chinese GONGSHI OR Scholar's Rock

Nature did the carving. A scholar just had to notice.

This gongshi or scholar's rock comes from Yunnan Province, China, of indeterminate age, in southern "Taihu" stone with a hardwood base. Chinese scholars kept such rocks on their desks and in their studios as small mountains to contemplate, valuing them for strange form and for the way they brought wild nature indoors. The stone is pale and pitted, stained with rust-brown patches. It twists up from a narrow foot into a crooked mass with a deep open curve and a small round hole. A dark carved base on four curled feet holds it upright. It stands 15.5 inches high.

Stone, doing nothing, with great distinction.