Chinese Gongshi or Scholar's Rock, Based

A dark round stone wears a band of sandy buff like a scarf tied a little too high.

This gongshi or scholar's rock, based, comes from China, in stone. Scholar's rocks were traditionally chosen for shapes and textures that rewarded long looking, and the smooth, rounded stones had their admirers as well as the craggy ones. This one is an upright mass of dark gray-brown stone, smooth and finely pitted. A broad band of paler, rougher stone crosses its upper third, giving it the look of a head and shoulders. It rests on a black lacquered stand with a fitted oval recess and cut-out feet. It is 8.5 inches wide, 5.5 deep and 11 high.

Nature shaped it, then stopped at exactly the right moment.