Japanese Stones at BCI Convention in Denver

Special Opportunity for BCI

During the past year, BCI Director, Tom Eilias and his wife, Hiromi, have been working with the leadership of the International Viewing Stone Association in Japan to arrange a donation of 18 Japanese suiseki that will be displayed during the BCI convention in Denver, Colorado in June. This association publishes the monthly Japanese stone journal Juseki. They have generously offered to donate the stones for auction to benefit BCI at the close of the convention. The auction will be held during the dinner at the close of the meeting. Details for the auction are in work. This will be a wonderful opportunity for you to acquire a truly nice stone at a reasonable price. I encourage all our friends to attend the convention to consider bidding on one or more stones. BCI is also seeting up a means to bid on the stones via the Internet.

These stones will be on exhibit in the Lupine Room during the convention.

The quality of the stones is excellent. There are some real gems in the group. All have nice hardwood bases and one of them is double boxed, first with a beautiful Kiri wood box and then covered with a larger traditional box. The boxes alone would cost $250 to $300. There is a large chrysanthemum stone that would sell at the Kokufu-ten in Tokyo or at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show for $1800 to $2200 dollars. There will be a handout describing each stone, its donor, and our reserve auction price. The reserve prices will be modest and will represent a real value and the best part is the proceeds benefit BCI.

This is a photo of one of the stones. Check the BCI web page for details of the auction. Thanks.
www.bonsai-BCI.com

Excellent news, Rob! Congratulations on negotiating such an interesting feature for the convention. I hope you can work out on-line bidding, because unfortunately I will not be able to make it to Denver after all.

Makes me sad you will not be there. I was hoping to see you and your wife in Denver and prod you on the progress of your scroll...

Hi Alan et al, we have an exciting update.

The BCI Japanese stone auction catalogue has been posted on the BCI web site. You can actually bid on these stones either in person at the convention in Denver or prior to the convention via the web. If you really want a stone your best bet is to attend the convention, however I am willing to use my cell phone to take long distance bids during the convention on behalf of remote bidders. Send me a private message if you want to do this. The stones can be shipped anywhere in the world. You have to be a BCI member to bid but you can join BCI for as low at $19.

You can see the catalogue at the BCI web site at www.bonsai-bci.com
click on the image of the stone or at

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/images/bci%20stone%20auction%20catalog-instructions-xtd.pdf

BTW we received a question from Chris Cochrane on whether any of the stones have been cut. The stones all appear naturally formed and uncut on the bottom. When we unpack the stones in Denver if any do appear to have been cut we will let everyone know but we don't believe any were.

Bidding is now open and remember the proceeds all benefit BCI so please take a look. Thanks.

Thanks to you & Tom Elias for making this auction so easy to attend for a wide audience. Your Denver Convention as already top-notch in attracting great bonsai community headliners and vendors. This is icing for stone enthusiasts.

Thanks, especially, for your notification to IBC, Rob. Your community contributions are stellar.

Chris Cochrane wrote:Thanks to you & Tom Elias for making this auction so easy to attend for a wide audience. Your Denver Convention as already top-notch in attracting great bonsai community headliners and vendors. This is icing for stone enthusiasts.

Thanks, especially, for your notification to IBC, Rob. Your community contributions are stellar.

Thanks Chris,

Based on your question, Tom unpacked the stones last night and prepared this report. We will try to update the catalogue. Thanks for asking this important question that will definitely help us provide a more complete and enjoyable auction for all.

"Each of the eighteen stones was unpacked and examined to determine if the base of the stone was natural or if there were any indications that the base had been cut or altered.

A. Thirteen (13) of the stones appear to have a completely natural, unaltered bottom or base as far as I can determine. They are 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

B. Two stones appear to have natural bases but may have been worked to some extent.
Stone #1 has a natural base for about 2/3 of its base, but the texture of the stone changes and is
smoother on the remaining 1/3 of the base. While this may be natural, I suspect that a small
section of stone was removed and then that section worked to appear uncut. There are no
obvious or fresh cuts.

Stone #5, the large chrysanthemum stone, has a base with a rough, irregular texture that appears
totally natural; however, the straight flat line across the base leads me to believe that this stone
was cut, then expertly worked so the base appears natural. There are no obvious signs of saw
marks. Larger chrysanthemum stones like this one frequently have cut bases for stability and to
facilitate a base.

C. Two stones have clearly been cut to facilitate bases.
Stone #10, a Furuya-like stone, has definitely been cut to have a uniformly level base.

Stone #13, a chrysanthemum stone with many small flowers, has a cut that extends for about
1/3 of the base, otherwise the remaining portion is natural. This small cut is not unusual
among chrysanthemum stones and does not detract from the appeal of this stone.

D. Stone # 18, a nice hut stone, may have been worked to help form a better hut-like shape; however, I cannot see any obvious signs to support this conclusion. Many Japanese hut stones have been worked to varying degrees, some of them so well done, it is almost impossible to tell. The base appears to be totally natural. "

That's Tom's very thorough report. Thanks for your consideration.

After the auction of such a fine group of Japanese suiseki, who won the stones? BCI conventions draw international enthusiasts, and I am confident that BCI did well with sales. My stone collecting buddy Glenn Reusch won two suiseki-- #11 & #15. I hope other friends were as fortunate!