Chinese Lotus-Form Planter

Lotus growing where you would least expect it: on the outside of the pot.

This lotus-form planter comes from China and dates to the 19th or 20th century. It is carved from marble. Planters like this were made for Chinese courtyards and scholars' gardens, holding flowers or miniature trees, and the lotus stood for purity, rising clean from muddy water. Flat faces carry lotus stems, broad leaves and blossoms in raised relief, and grey veins run through the pale stone at a slant. A stepped, irregular foot sits beneath, and tool marks line the interior. Twenty-five inches high.

Add water. The flowers are already seen to.