Water, Pine & Stone Retreat Collection- Chinese scholar rocks, natural roots, Dali marble pattern stones et al

Appreciation of naturally contoured, patterned or textured objects were not limited to stones for Chinese literati-- wood & bamboo objects in addition to stones of exceptional contour were often valued. Such objects including some with exceptional provenance are documented in the third Sotheby's sale of objects from the collection of snuff-bottle collector/publisher/vendor Hugh Moss, which occurred in Hong Kong on April 8, 2010. The catalog is titled the Water, Pine & Stone Retreat (Shuisongshi Shanfang) Collection: Objects of Contemplation. The easiest-to-access online summary of the auctioned objects is here:
...'WP&S Retreat' Objects of Contemplation LINK

In addition to selling naturally contoured scholar objects from his collection, the sale included modern brush paintings of many objects with English text passages by the "Master of the Water, Pine & Stone Retreat (b. 1943)," which apparently were completed by Hugh Moss. The last item in the auction was the painting of 2 walking sticks & a stone by the Master of the WP&S Retreat without any accompanying object.

California Aiseki Kai members received a recommendation from Peter Aradi (a contributor here) of another article referring to Chinese scholar rocks in this collection (as well as stones in the collection of another vendor). Peter notes:

An outstanding article was published last month on Chinese scholar rocks. It is a must read for all viewing stone collectors regardless of their specialty.
“The Scholar’s Rock: Selections from the Jiannsong Ge and Shuisongshi Shanfang Collections.”
Arts of Asia; Volume 40 Number 2, March-April 2010, pages 114 – 126.

Results in HK dollars: Sale totalled HK$41 million/ US$5.2 million (roughly, 8 HK$ = 1 USD) .
1701 A NANMU ROOT RUYI SCEPTRE 50,000
1702 A 'YING' SCHOLAR'S ROCK MING - QING DYNASTY 596,000
1703 A BURLWOOD ROOT SCULPTURE QING DYNASTY 106,250
1704 A NANMU ROOT BRUSHREST QING DYNASTY 125,000
1705 A LARGE WHITE 'TAIHU' ROCK QING DYNASTY 3,020,000
1707 A MINIATURE 'YING' SCHOLAR'S ROCK MING - QING DYNASTY 150,000
1708 A BOXWOOD IMPERIAL 'LINGZHI' RUYI SCEPTRE MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG 11,860,000
1709 A BLACK QILIAN LIMESTONE SCHOLAR'S ROCK QING DYNASTY 620,000
1710 A BOXWOOD BRUSHREST QING DYNASTY 620,000
1711 A TREE 'ROOT' TABLE QING DYNASTY 475,000
1712 AN INSCRIBED NANMU BRUSHPOT QING DYNASTY 250,000
1713 A NANMU ROOT WOOD SCULPTURE QING DYNASTY 475,000
1714 A WHITE SCHOLAR'S ROCK QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY 740,000
1716 A NANMU ROOT 'LINGZHI' RUYI SCEPTRE QING DYNASTY 375,000
1719 A MALACHITE BRUSHREST MING - QING DYNASTY 300,000
1721 A LARGE BLACK AND WHITE MARBLE DREAMSTONE 200,000
1726 AN IMPERIAL ZITAN 'LINGZHI' BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY 500,000
1727 AN INSCRIBED BURLWOOD STAND QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY 1,040,000
1728 AN IMPERIALLY INSCRIBED BAMBOO-VENEER RUYI-SCEPTRE QIANLONG PERIOD,
..................POEM COMPOSED IN THE BINGZI YEAR (1756) 15,780,000
1729 A LARGE BLACK 'TAIHU' SCHOLAR'S ROCK QING DYNASTY 375,000
1730 A BRONZE RUYI SCEPTRE 17TH CENTURY 75,000
1735 A ROOT TRIPOD INCENSE BURNER QING DYNASTY 81,250
1740 A BOXWOOD 'LINGZHI' RUYI SCEPTRE QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY 1,820,000
1741 A GREEN MARBLE DREAMSTONE JIAQING PERIOD, DATED TO THE GENGWU YEAR (1810) 740,000
1743 A BURLWOOD ROOT CENSER WITH A ZITAN COVER QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY 560,000
1744 MASTER OF THE WATER, PINE AND STONE RETREAT 2009 75,000