Chinese Lotus Form Vessel

A flower, cut from something that does not bend.

This lotus form vessel is marble, from China, dated 19th century or earlier. Broad stone basins of this kind served Chinese households and gardens, holding water, fish or flowering plants, and the lotus shape carried its familiar meaning of purity. Deep lobes scallop the rim and swell down the sides to a low foot. The pale stone shows tan and ochre staining inside and out. Twenty-one inches in diameter and 5.75 high.

It opened once and stayed that way.