San Antonio museum welcomes donated 6-ton rock from China

SAN ANTONIO – A museum in South Texas has welcomed a big boulder.

A crane was used to manoeuvr the more than 6-ton (5.44-metric ton) rock donated to the San Antonio Museum of Art from a sister city in China.

The San Antonio Express-News reports the limestone rock, which was unloaded Friday, is a gift from Wuxi (woo-shee) in honour of San Antonio’s Tricentennial.

The donation joins the San Antonio Museum of Art’s collection of scholars’ rocks and will be installed on campus in November.

Shawn Yuan, assistant curator of Asian art at the museum, says scholars’ rocks have long been prized by elite members of Chinese society. Small ones are placed on tables as sources of inspiration representing nature. Larger pieces, like the new arrival, are typically displayed near water in gardens.

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Information from: San Antonio Express-News, http://www.mysanantonio.com