Chinese Scholar's Rock

Nobody carved the hole, or so the tradition prefers to believe.

This scholar's rock is from Lake Tai, Wuxi, China, of southern Taihu stone, its age indeterminate. Chinese scholars gathered unusual stones for their studios and gardens as small stand-ins for mountains, objects to contemplate when a walk in the hills was out of reach. Taihu stones were especially prized. This one is pale gray and smooth, leaning high to one side before an arm of stone loops down to the base, leaving a single wide opening. Fine lines score its surface. A shaped dark wood stand supports it. Seventeen and a half inches high.

Its career so far has been sitting still. It excels.