Chinese Scholar's Rock

Cream and rust, with a profile that suggests a crouching animal to anyone inclined to see one.

This scholar's rock comes from Xinjiang, China, and is hand colored stone. Chinese scholars traditionally kept stones like this on their desks as small landscapes for contemplation, prizing irregular shapes and suggestive outlines. The stone is pale and smooth, washed with russet and reddish brown along its upper edges and into its crevices. One end rises into a rounded, head-like form. It sits in a fitted dark wooden stand with a stepped rectangular base. It is 4.5 inches high and 3.5 wide.

A mountain, a beast or a stone. It does not insist.