SCHOLAR’S ROCKS AND ROOTWOOD

The large garden stones that we saw earlier have a miniature expression in the form of wen renshi or scholar’s rocks. Also known as gonghsi, meaning ‘spirit stones’, these vary in size from those that will sit on a desk or side table, as below, to small versions of Taihu stones, generally tall, that can be the centerpiece of a room, as at right. These are contemplative objects, and since the Song dynasty have been collected. When scholars (wen ren, hence the name) formed an important element in Chinese society and culture, stones were an essential fixture of a study. The fantastic shapes of the most sought-after stones are considered to resemble mythical animals, legendary landscapes and Taoist grottoes, and as such have symbolic meanings. The shapes are analyzed in four categories: thinness, openness, holes and wrinkling. As rocks, they were considered indestructible and therefore a symbol of longevity, and fundamentally as representations of nature brought into the home, with Taoist references. For the same reason, wrinkled and polished rootwood has long had the same attraction for Chinese. Rootwood is typically fashioned into usable objects, such as the vases shown here.

A spectacular natural found rootwood sculpture on a side table by artist danny Lane, in the Pearl Lam apartment.

Rootwood resembling a hedgehog on a Chinese leather chest.

A scholar’s rock on a rootwood stand, with brass-edged box, in the Ellsworth apartment, Manhattan.

A tall scholar’s stone on a pedestal and two steel chairs referencing Ming designs.

Polished rootwood vases with plants.