A tall, narrow rock formation stands in front of a white wall with a tall, green plant stands next to it.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A tall, narrow tan rock formation stands upright in front of a white wall and grey stone floor. The formation consists of a tall, rounded point to the left, a shorter rounded point to the left, and an even shorter round formation to the right with some short rock connecting them all. To the right of the rock formation is a tall, green plant with many thin leaves that is about the same height as the tallest rock point.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1985.98
Title
Garden Rock (one of three)
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
16th-17th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Yunnan province
Period
Ming dynasty, 1368-1644
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/201147

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2620, East Asian Art
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gray limestone
Dimensions
sight: H. 170.2 x W. 68.6 cm (67 x 27 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mao Liqing, Flushing, NY (by 1985), sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1985.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Asian Art Objects Fund
Accession Year
1985
Object Number
1985.98
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The Chinese have long prized eroded rocks, especially as focal elements in traditional gardens. This grouping is intended to suggest a quiet corner in an urban garden. Although the best-known garden rocks come from Lake Tai, near Suzhou, a number of other regions also produce handsome specimens. These rocks, for example, originated in Yunnan province in southwest China. The large rock in this grouping is said to have been retrieved from an abandoned Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) garden in Suzhou.

Garden rocks are usually arranged to suggest a mountainous landscape, with a tall "host" peak flanked and buttressed by smaller "guest" peaks on either side. The Chinese fascination with rocks might be compared with the modern Western interest in abstract sculpture; although one can read meaning into both rocks and abstract sculpture, each is ultimately appreciated for the beauty of its form. In rocks, connoisseurs typically admire such qualities as attenuated proportions (that recall soaring peaks), weathered surfaces (that suggest great age), forceful profiles (that reflect the grandeur of nature), overlapping layers or planes (that impart depth), and hollows and perforations (that create rhythmic, harmonious patterns). Many of these same characteristics also inform Chinese landscape painting.

Exhibition History

  • Masterworks of East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/03/1995 - 06/09/1996
  • Streams and Mountains without End: Landscape Paintings from China, Korea, and Japan, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/25/2000 - 08/26/2001
  • Rocks, Mountains, Landscapes and Gardens: The Essence of East Asian Painting ('04), Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 01/31/2004 - 08/01/2004
  • A Compelling Legacy: Masterworks of East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/24/2004 - 03/20/2005
  • Forging the New: East Asian Painting in the Twentieth Century, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/03/2005 - 10/16/2005
  • Downtime, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/28/2007 - 04/20/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 2620 Winter Garden, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/03/2015 - 01/01/2050

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Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu