Chinese GONGSHI OR Scholar's Rock

A perfect round window punched through the stone, as if the river wanted a better view.

This gongshi or scholar's rock comes from Yunnan Province, China, and is stone. Chinese collectors have long valued rocks with holes and hollows, believing the openings let energy and light pass through the stone. This one is a flat, upright slab of sandy buff stone, its upper edge running out into a long point like a head or a wave. A large circular opening pierces the lower middle. The surface is coarse and granular. It sits in a dark lacquered stand. It is 7.5 inches wide, 3.75 deep and 8.75 high.

Something is missing in the middle, and that is the point.