Chinese Gongshi Landscape Crystal on Hardwood Base

A dark ridge of peaks runs along the top, as if a mountain range had been drawn on with charcoal.

This gongshi landscape crystal on hardwood base comes from China. It is crystal. Gongshi, or scholar's stones, were traditionally displayed by Chinese literati as miniature landscapes, valued for the way natural material suggests mountains and distant views. This translucent block is pale gold and white, streaked with vertical columns of light. Along its upper edge, a dark mineral line rises and falls in a series of soft peaks, like a horizon. It sits on a stepped, dark hardwood stand with shaped feet. It is 11 inches wide, 5.5 deep and 8.5 high.

A landscape that needs no window.