QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)

Details

A RARE CHENXIANGMU (ALOESWOOD) 'DRAGON SPINE' 'SCHOLAR'S ROCK'
QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
The two-sided 'rock' is in the form of a vertically jagged, winding mountain ridge.
11¾ in. (30 cm.) high, wood stand

Provenance

Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, January 1982.

Literature

John Hay, Kernels of Energy, Bones of Earth: The Rock in Chinese Art, China Institue in America, 1985, pl. 57, no. 22.

Exhibited

Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Collects Oriental Art, 7 March - 28 April 1985.
New York, China House Gallery, Kernels of Energy, Bones of Earth: The Rock in Chinese Art, 26 October 1985 - 26 January 1986, no. 22.
Cincinnati, Ohio, The Taft Museum, Cincinnati Collects 5000 Years of Chinese Art, 28 February - 20 March 1997, no. 10.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

John Hay, in Kernals of Energy, Bones of Earth, p. 138, no. 22, describes this scholar's rock as a tree root mountain, and a "fine example of the winding mountain ridge, or "dragon-spine", which was a quality essential to mountains of the highest order." He also notes that records show that "tree-rocks" were collected in the Northern Song period.

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