Chinese "Winged Guardian" Lingbi Scholar's Rock

Scholarly pursuits such as painting, calligraphy, and poetry were a highly respected and revered subculture in ancient China, and demanded their own set of tools that were not only functional, but also beautiful. One of the "Four Treasures of the Study," inkstones such as this were used to mix dry ink with water for use in calligraphy painting. This 19th century inkstone is guarded by a mythical fu dog, or shizi, depicted with open jaws and a long mane of flowing curls. Resembling a Buddhist fly whisk...

A well-chosen stone is the focal point of both a traditional Chinese garden and a scholar's studio - evoking the complexities of nature and inspiring creative thought. In the spirit ...

Set upon its side, we display this dahua stone like a traditional scholars' rock (gongshi). Meditating on the stone’s irregular composition, the Qing-dynasty scholar sought inspirati...

A scroll and a small lantern depicted in this 19th century painting suggest the romantic notion of a Chinese scholar painting in the evening hours. Re...

A beautiful Chinese hand painted soapstone scholar's rock sculpture. This large hand carved soapstone sculpture is hand painted with white flowers pa...

A fantastic Chinese scholar's stone, called gongshi, of gray lingbi limestone, mounted on a hardwood stand, late Qing or early Republic, early 20th century, circa 1910, China . The ...

A tall Chinese scholar stone (also known as Gong Shi in Chinese; meditation stone and spirit rock in the West) of significant weight and volume is gracefully balanced on the wood dis...

An impressive Chinese scholar Lingbi stone (also known as Gong Shi in Chinese; meditation stone and spirit rock in the West) of substantial height and mass on a carved wood display s...