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Crouching Dragon Scholar's Stone browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Chinese:Scholar Art: Pre 1910: item # 158823 Please refer to our stock # 52-35 when inquiring.
Silk Road Gallery PO Box 2175 Branford, Connecticut 06405, USA (203) 208-0771 Guest Book $600 |
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| A crouching dragon extending his neck and looking over his shoulder can be seen in this Chinese scholar's stone, naturally formed over centuries by water erosion. The rock surface, or dragon skin, is covered with rough scales and a network of white, yellow and red/brown veins. A black tail tapers to a flat, blunt point, and the short front legs are defined by a small gap worn into the rock. The horizontally oriented limestone dragon sits in a low wood stand custom made to complement its shape and support the bottom surface. Zoomorphic stones such as this one, along with rocks representing landscapes, mountains and grottos, have been collected by Chinese scholars for over one thousand years. Rocks were admired and written about as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 BC), and by the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) were brought indoors and displayed in scholars' studios. Contemplation of the carefully selected stones became a way for scholars to strive toward spiritual and philosophical connections with nature. The crouching dragon is classified as a Taihu-type stone due to its resemblance to some of the earliest collected and particularly prized stones that came from Lake Taihu in Jiangsu Province. This dragon rock most likely was harvested near the end of the Qing Dynasty in late the 19th/early 20th century. Dimensions with stand: height 7" (18 cm), width 20" (51 cm), depth 8" (20 cm). | |||||||||
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