Covello Vincent T. - The Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation: Suiseki and its Use with Bonsai

To Adele Astrello and Donald Sanborn

Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, Vermont 05759 U.S.A.

Copyright 2009 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Covello, Vincent T.

The Japanese art of stone appreciation : suiseki and its use with bonsai / by Vincent T. Covello and Yuji Yoshimura ; foreword by Sonja Arntzen.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4629-0257-6

1. Suiseki. 2. Bonsai. I. Yoshimura, Yuji. II. Title.

NK8715.C6 2009

745.584--dc22

2009004361

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Table of Contents

APPENDIXES:

List of Illustrations

Asterisk (*) indicates color plate

1. Section of Japanese screen Portuguese in Japan, and detail 16, 17

2. Chinese Coastal rock stone 17

3. Human-shaped stone Li Po Meditating on a Waterfall 19

4. Distant mountain stone Floating Bridge of Dreams 19

5. Landscape garden at Ryoan-ji 21

6. Stone display in a tea-ceremony hut 22

7. Near-view mountain stone suggesting mountain scenery 25

8. Distant mountain stone showing interplay of complementary
aspects 27

9-12. Distant mountain stones 32, 33

13. Near-view mountain stone 34

14. Mountain-stream stone 35

15. Island stone 36

16. Slope stone 36

17. Sandbar stone 36

18, 19. Waterpool stones 37

20. Coastal rock stone 38

21. Cave stone 38

22, 23. Shelter stones 39

24. Boat stone 41

25. Object stone suggesting bear or monster 41

26. Chrysanthemum-pattern stone 43

27. Star-pattern stone 45

*28. Distant mountain stone Sacred Mount Fuji 49

*29. Sheet-waterfall stone Dragons Head 49

*30. Near-view mountain stone with waterfall 50

*31. Japanese garden stone suggesting Mount Shumi 50

*32. Japanese garden stones suggesting Horai 51

*33. Wedded Rocks, Futamigaura bay 51

*34. Mountain stone from the U.S. National Arboretum collection 52

*35. Miniature Coastal rock stone 52

*36. Mountains of the Cascade Range 53

*37. Object stone eliciting a variety of associations 53

*38. Distant mountain stone Mount Hakkai 54

*39. Distant mountain stone 54

*40. Near-view mountain stone 54

*41. Thread-waterfall stone 55

*42. Sheet-waterfall stone 55

*43. Dry waterfall stone 56

*44. Mountain-stream stone 56

*45, *46. Plateau stones 57

*47. Slope stone 57

*48. Reef stone 58

*49. Waterpool stone 58

*50. Shelter stone 58

*51, *52. Tunnel stones 59

*53, *54. Thatched-hut stones 60

*55, *56. Object stones suggesting animals 60, 61

*57. Red stone 61

*58. Neodani chrysanthemum-pattern stone 62

*59. Biseki 62

*60. Moon-pattern stone 63

*61. Tiger-stripe-pattern stone 63

*62. Snake-pattern stone 63

*63. Nachiguro stone 64

*64. Furuya stone 64

65(a), (b). Distant mountain stone on dai/in suiban 68

66(a)-(c). Relationship between size of suiban and suiseki 69

67-70. Various suiban 70, 71

71. Distant mountain stone in suiban filled with sand and water 72

72. Thatched-hut stone in soil covered with moss and short grasses 72

73. Weak stone placement 73

74(a)-(c). Placement of suiseki in suiban 74

75. Island stone with bronze miniature 75

76-78. Distant mountain stones in various displays 76, 77

79. Stands used for displaying suiseki 78

80. Rugged Mountain stone displayed on rectangular table 79

81 (a), (b). Poor choices of stands 80

82. Miniature suiseki and planters 81

83, 84. Poor displays 82

85. Plateau stone displayed off-center 83

86. Neodani chrysanthemum-pattern stone displayed centrally 84

87. Rock planting 88

88. Thatched-hut stone and bonsai 89

89-93. Five basic shapes of bonsai 90, 91

94. Rock planting suggesting island scenery 93

95. Pine trees on island 93

96. Rock planting in the root-over-rock style 94

97-101. Rock plantings in the clinging-to-a-rock style 95-97

102. Japanese woodblock print showing tray-landscape design 102

103. Stones being aged in outdoor water-basin 103

104. Asymmetrical triangular arrangement of stones 107

*105. Mountain stone set in suiban filled with sand 113

*106. Snow-covered alpine mountain 113

*107. Island stone with miniature sailboat 114

*108. Distant mountain stone in harmonious seasonal display 114

*109. Bonsai in multiple-trunk style 115

*110. Harmonious bonding of suiseki and bonsai 115

*111. Rock planting in the root-over-rock style 116

*112. Rock planting in the clinging-to-a-rock style 116

*113. Tray landscape American Fantasy 117

*114-*116. Three sections of American Fantasy 118, 119

*117-*122. Plant materials and stones used in American Fantasy 119-121

*123. Tray landscape created in China 122

*124. Distant mountain stone from the U.S. National Arboretum 122

*125. The Japan Alps 123

*126. Distant mountain stone suggesting glacier 123

*127. Desert formation in the American Southwest 124

*128, *129. Near-view mountain stones suggesting desert formations 124, 125

*130. Mountain stone suggesting peak 125

*131. Object stone suggesting ostrich egg or cantaloupe 125

*132. Distant mountain stone suggesting snowcapped peak 126

*133. Near-view mountain stone suggesting ravines and gorges 126

*134. Thread-waterfall stone 127

*135. Object stone suggesting animal or bird 127

*136. Pattern-stone suggesting tree on rocky promontory 128

137. Keto-bonkei 129

138, 139. Bonseki 130

140. Tools and materials used for bonseki 131

141. Bonseki materials and types of sand 131

142. Distant mountain stone suggesting the Japan Alps 134

143. Waterpool stone and storage-box lid 135

144. Near-view mountain stone on dai 136

145. Distant mountain stone suggesting mountain glacier 137

146. Dry waterfall stone 138

147. Tools for the suiseki collector 140

148. Dry waterfall stone in deep dai 144

149. One-wall dai 147