Page 30 - BSAM 2016 Q3

Top; This California Eel River stone was collected and cut from a larger rock by Ben Nanjo, a well-known stone enthusiast from the San Francisco Bay area. It is typical of the many ne viewing stones obtained from a single basal cut.
Bottom; This attractive Kamo River stone has a cut bottom. It was attributed to the Meiji Era by Arishige Matsuura, former chairman of the Nippon Suiseki Association, when it was acquired.
Pius Notter by Arishige Matsuura and Martin Pauli de ned suiseki as small stones that were formed by nature. e concept that suiseki are completely natural was further promoted by Willi Benz in his book, e Art of Suiseki published in 1996. is was an English adaptation of his earlier book, Suiseki: Kunstwerke der Natur Präsentiert von Menschen. us, European stone collectors believed that Japanese suiseki were all natural stones formed by nature. is belief was supported by Felix Rivera when he wrote that “Suiseki is an art form that values the intrinsic qualities of hard minerals and stones shaped by natural forces into forms suggestive of mountains, islands, waterfalls, glaciers, plains, people, and animals” in his book, Suiseki, e Japanese Art of Miniature Landscape Stones (1997). Many newly formed stone clubs accepted this notion, rst presented by Covello and Yoshimura, then reinforced by Benz and Rivera, as fact.
In California, stone collectors from California Suiseki Society in the San Francisco Bay Area were regularly cutting stones to make suitable landscape stones with stable bases. Felix Rivera, founder of this society and author of the book, e Japanese Art of Miniature Landscape Stones, described suiseki by size, color, and patina and by saying that they “may not be
altered other than to have their bottoms cut and lev- eled, if needed, to allow for easy placement within a wooden base.” Rivera pointed out that many Japanese collectors made single basal cuts to make suiseki. In southern California, the sentiments were against any altering of the stone, including a single bottom cut. is was promoted by the California Aiseki-kai Club, led by Larry and Nina Ragle. According to the current California Aiseki-kai web site, “suiseki are small stones shaped by nature, unaltered by man, which suggest familiar landscapes such as mountains, islands, wa- terfalls, shorelines or seascapes.”
Shaping, carving, polishing and inscribing stones is an ancient business in Japan necessary to meet the demand for various sizes and types of monuments, lanterns, pagodas, and Buddha gures. ese skills were well developed and easily applied on a smaller scale to the art of stone appreciation. An examina- tion of many older, important suiseki will show that the bottom was modi ed. Our Meiji era Kamo River stone, purchased from former Nippon Suiseki Association Chairman, Arishige Matsuura is a good example.
e Japanese stone appreciation community did not try to conceal the fact that many stones were partially or totally modi ed for use as suiseki. In fact, numer- ous articles were published beginning in the 1960s about the processes used to modify stones. Stones that have been worked and extensively polished, o en to a mirror smooth nish, frequently colorful, usually quite beautiful, and placed in the category of biseki or beautiful stones, are not included in this article.
Two references were found to Sakai Teikyo, usu- ally considered by the most well-informed Japanese stone professionals to be Japan’s nest stone carver. One reference is an article, A Story of Sakai Teikyo published in the book How to Appreciate and Take Care of Suiseki, edited by Inoue Yoshio in 1966. Teikyo was one of three sons of Sakai Sahichi, a stone carver in Gifu. Teikyo learned stone carving from his father and while he specialized in Ibi River stones, he also worked some Setagawa stones. He was known for his ability to make such natural looking suiseki that others could not see that they were enhanced. Sakai Teikyo studied di erent rivers, their rock formations and the way water owed over and through them, to under- stand how they were formed. e way he worked on a rock depended upon the river in which it originated. He believed that movement in stones was important, and that working stones was unavoidable. is was due to the rapid increase in the number of collectors and the limited supply of stones. He also maintained that if working on a stone multiplies its value by many times, then a stone should be worked. e article in- cluded many photographs showing Sakai manufactur- ing suiseki.
Another important document was Memories of Ibi River Stones by Sakai Teikyo, third son, which was published in 1989 in a local publication, Stone Friends by the Ibi River Aiseki-kai association. It is an account
28 | BCI | July/August/September 2016