A Chinese grape agate scholar's rock on wooden stand, 20th C.

L.: 21 cm - H.: 14,1 cm (incl. stand)

Provenance:
- From the Gathering Elegance (Juxiu Zhai, 聚秀斋) studio, an important French private collection.
- Acquired in 2014 from Kemin Hu, Boston.

The founder on the origins of the Gathering Elegance studio:

The beauty of nature had always attracted us to rocks, but it was an appreciation of Chinese brush painting and a chance encounter with a scholar’s rock (gōngshí) in a New York gallery in 2006 that led to a passion for gōngshí.

Through years of exchanges with dealers, collectors and museums in Europe, China and the US, we developed the Juxui Zhai (Gathering Elegance studio) collection with most pieces acquired before 2012. Kemin Hu, a leading authority, has been an important guide to these ultimate “time travelers” appreciated by artists, poets and other lovers of rocks through the centuries.

Our choice of gōngshí is based not only on their eye-catching shapes and textures but also on their “spirit.” If spring flowers and fall colours represent the fleeting world, rocks represent the birth of the cosmos and its complex transformations. With each change of angle and light, these rocks reveal something new to the eye and stimulate our imaginations.