17TH CENTURY

The warm white marble (han bai yu) used to make this planter has acquired a mellow tone and soft patina over the years. The planter has a strong, well-defined shape created by the crisp carving of the thick walls. The shape of this planter is similar to that of other stone planters of Ming and Qing date that display garden rocks. A planter of barbed petal outline raised on a pedestal base is illustrated by David Ren and Wenfu Ding in Zhongguo gu dai shang shi (Classical Chinese Rocks), Beijing, 2002, pp. 274-75, where the stand is dated to the Qing dynasty. Also illustrated, pp. 276-77, is a stone planter of lobed octagonal shape raised on a pedestal base, where the authors note that the stand has mid-Qing characteristics. Two other stone planters of barbed petal shape, each raised on a pedestal complex, and displaying a garden rock, in the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden Palace, Beijing, are illustrated by David Ren in The Imperial Rocks, Beijing, 2000, pp. 74-77, nos. 16 and 17, where they are dated early Ming.