Chinese Hu or Vessel-form Pedestal

Cream stone streaked and splashed with brown, as if somebody had shaken a paintbrush at it and walked away pleased.

This hu, or vessel-form pedestal, comes from Guizhou Province, China, and is Tian Er stone. The hu is one of the oldest Chinese vessel shapes, a rounded jar, and stone carvers have long borrowed classical forms like it for decorative pedestals and scholar's objects. Here a broad-shouldered jar with a flat top tapers to a narrower foot. The pale cream stone is marked with dark brown veins that run in long lines and arches down the body and scattered spatters. It is 8.25 inches high and 7.5 in diameter.

Nature did the painting, and the carver had the sense to leave it alone.