Page 29 - BSAM 2016 Q3

Stone collectors and dealers in Japan were interviewed over a two- year period to better understand the extent to which suiseki are enhanced in Japan, and to better understand the dichotomy that developed between Western beliefs about Japanese suiseki and the realities in Japan.
our second article on this topic, we will present the results of in-depth interviews with one of Japan’s leading stone carvers, con rming that the carving of Japanese stones was common in the 1960s and has continued to the present.
Stone collectors and connoisseurs have long ad- mired the many beautifully shaped landscape stones of Japan and their re ned elegance. Foreign visitors to Japan were o en rst introduced to Japanese suiseki at their national exhibitions in Tokyo-the Meihen-ten or the more recent Japan Suiseki Exhibition—or at the ne Taikan-ten each November in Kyoto. Many at- tractive small hut stones and Ibi River waterfall stones were purchased at these events. ese stones were par- tially to totally manufactured. Slowly, and a er repeat visits to Japan, some Western stone collectors learned that other Japanese stones were o en worked to im- prove their appearance, many extensively so. Many of the Ibi River stones have been cut so the quartz vein is at the base of the stone. Sometimes they are further worked to make the cut bottom appear natu- ral. A broader range of Japanese stones were being worked in one way or another to improve their ap- pearance as a natural stone. Western stone enthusiasts
who are able to communicate with Japanese collec- tors and stone dealers, and who have access to the Japanese literature and practices, learn that many of the Japanese stones have been worked in some capac- ity. Some well-respected stone dealers have said that a vast majority of the landscape stones in Japan are enhanced while another dealer’s estimate was 60% to 70%. is clearly con icts with information published in English, French, Italian and German on Japanese suiseki and di ers from what has been promoted in Western countries over the last thirty years.
e presentation of Japanese stones as natural is found in many in uential books on the subject. For example, Vincent T. Covello and Yuji Yoshimura (1984) stated that Japanese “suiseki are small, naturally formed stones admired for their beauty and for their power to suggest a scene from nature or an object closely associated with nature” in their book, e Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation. is work was translated and published in Italian in 1994. e French language book, La Collection de Suiseki de
Facing page; This Ibi River hut stone was our rst Japanese stone.
Top; An Ibi River waterfall stone with single basal cut.
Bottom; A small manufactured hut stone.
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