**First Time At Auction**
East Asia, China, China, Qing Dynasty, ca. 19th century CE. A fine "gongshi" also known as a scholar's stone that is actually petrified wood, standing upright on a wooden base with a naturally craggy and chiseled profile. Scholar stones are rocks of a distinctive shape, color, and texture, with an appearance impressive enough to be deemed fitting for meditation in a scholar's studio or to display in a garden to inspire art and poetry. Ancient Chinese cultures understood that petrified / fossilized wood was from trees, however they thought the wood turned to stone after lightning strikes. A manuscript published in 1613 titled "Suyuan Shipu" by Lin Youlin, cataloged rocks and petrified wood that were suitable as scholar stones, with descriptions and illustrations of over 200 types! This piece was undoubtably collected and displayed because of its appearance and magical transformation from wood to stone! Size: 10" L x 7" W (25.4 cm x 17.8 cm); 28.75" H (73 cm) on included custom stand.
Gongshi are part of the Chinese tradition of venerating beautiful stones which extends back to the Neolithic, when prized geological specimens were placed into tombs as offerings. In the Song Dynasty, Chinese writers composed essays and catalogues dedicated to rocks; artists began to paint them in elegant compositions that celebrated their natural qualities as evocative of larger forms in the landscape like prominent mountains or mythological creatures like dragons. A Chinese scholar would have displayed this example in his studio so that he and other members of the literati could contemplate its contours.
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Provenance: private Hawaii collection, acquired 2000 to 2010
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#177484
Condition
Clear protective coating added to rock surface. Surface wear and minor chips, otherwise intact. Mounted on a wooden base, with stable pressure fissure on the underside.