By Thomas S. Elias

When I placed this 250-million-year-old stone next to a 100-year-old Japanese illustrated book of different cultivated chrysanthemums, I realized the time I can appreciate either is important to me but insignificant compared to the time the book and stone will continue to exist. The similarity between the mineral formations in the stone and the botanically accurate illustration is unnerving. Both are beautiful. Both cause me to swell with emotion—feelings of happiness and joy. I will have my time with these two precious objects; then they will pass to someone else who will, I hope, bring meaning to their life as they did to mine.

The stone is from Neo Valley in Japan near Gifu. In the late 1960s, this beautiful stone was displayed in the Aiseki Museum in Ibigawa before passing to the collection of Dr. Matasuyama Tomonaka and remained there until his death. Kasahara Nobu, a Tokyo collector and dealer, purchased the stone at that time. Kasahara sold this stone to me in February 2016. It is 20 cm wide, 30 cm high, and 10 cm deep without the base.