This 19th century Ying stone was donated in 2015 to the Musée Guimet, France's National Museum of Asian Arts, in Paris. It is the first Chinese viewing stone to enter the vast collections of this leading museum and is now on display with other scholar's objects.

According to the donors Joseph and Jana Roussel, "the stone has an eye-catching shape with interesting views from all sides. The view in the photo evokes a lady dancing with arms delicately raised like the courtesans in the famous painting “Spring Morning in the Han Palace” by Qiu Ying. The surface of the other side (not shown) appears jagged, masculine and looks like an abstract modern painting."

The stone is 33 cm x 45 x 14 cm and the Northern style base is made of Nanmu wood.

photo copyright 2012by Laura Mah