Japanese stone lantern (is this a good deal?)

memehongkong

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Hello All,

Found this at my local indoor plant nursery (not bonsai) today. It about 4' high and solid built. Cost $475 do you think this is a good deal?

I've seen them on online place for less but have to worry about shipping and it might get damage during transit.
 

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Carol 83

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@penumbra knows about such things, maybe he could give you an idea of it's woth.
 

rockm

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That's a bit high, but it is carved stone. Looks Chinese-made, not Japanese to me. The carving is well-done. I was looking around for a decent stone lantern a few years back. For a reference point, I found a granite oribe lantern for about $300. It is about three feet tall. It was American-made in Southern California, so the price didn't include shipping from Japan, which can add substantially to the final cost...
 

Bonsai Nut

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There are generally three categories of "stone" lanterns:
(1) Fiberglass / some sort of composite
(2) Cement/concrete
(3) Carved stone

Make sure you know what you're getting. Category 1 can be obtained for under $100. Category 2 is usually a couple hundred... but I have seen good ones go for more. Category 3 can get expensive - depending on the type of stone, where it came from, and the quality of the work.

I am going to disagree with @rockm because I believe that is a concrete lantern. Note the hairline cracks (common in concrete, almost unknown in carved stone), the painted finish that is rubbing off, and the exposed concrete aggregate. If that were really carved stone, it would cost several thousand dollars - not $450. That is one of the largest stone lanterns I have seen. You would need a large garden to use something like that as an accent.
 
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