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Scholar's rock

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Scholar's rock

Scholar's rock

Place of OriginChina
Date2nd Millennium
DimensionsH: 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm); W: 10 1/8 in. (25.7 cm); L: 17 7/8 in. (45.4 mm)
MediumFound stone, on a carved wood stand.
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LineGift of the Popplestone Family
Object number
2006.133
Not on View
Label TextBy the time of the Song Dynasty (960–1279) in China, small rocks with interesting shapes had become an appropriate object for display in a scholar’s study. Though they were sometimes shaped by an artist, the most admired stones were those that had been artfully eroded by time, wind, and water. Such stones were seen as embodying nature’s transformational forces.

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