{"product_id":"arowana-with-coins-beige-marble-statue-180cm","title":"Arowana with Coins Beige Marble Statue - 180cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA large arowana swims forward over carved water, its body held level and the tail fanned. The long dorsal and anal fins run most of its length. The scales are broad overlapping ovals, laid in courses from the gill back to the tail. A string of six pierced coins is carved lying across the shoulder and down the flank, linked by a bar; each is a blank disc with a square hole and four radial lines. The water beneath is cut as curling crested waves, one rolled into a complete ring. It stands on a thin rectangular slab. Warm honey-beige marble over a cream slab, the scales playing faintly green and rose.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eSix Square Holes, Bored Before Anything Is Polished\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe coin string is the most distinctive thing on this fish and it is cut early, which is the opposite of how ornament is usually handled. Each of the six discs is pierced with a square hole, and a square hole is bored round first and then squared out with a chisel working into a void - awkward work at the best of times, and impossible on a polished surface, because a bit entering a smooth curved face skates instead of biting. So the holes go in while the flank around them is still rough and will hold a drill where it is put. Everything afterwards is done around six openings that cannot be moved: the scale courses are laid out to pass behind the string rather than the string being fitted to the scales.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn arowana with a string of coins is a prosperity subject, and it is bought as one - which makes it a piece for an entrance, a lobby, a courtyard, a reception forecourt, somewhere it is met on the way in rather than come upon in a garden. At 180cm the fish rides above the eye and its coin string catches the light there. The coin string sits on the upper flank and is the thing to keep visible, so face the carved side to the approach. The honey-beige stone carries a faint play of green and rose within it that only shows close to and in good light; at distance it reads as a plain warm stone, so a position people pass within a few paces of gets far more out of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAn Auspicious Fish, Read From Below\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty to twenty-two weeks. Boring the six coin holes square before the scales are polished keeps the drill from wandering. The slab is dressed and the wave mass blocked above it, the fish roughed lying level across it. The six coin holes are bored round and squared out while the flank is still rough. The scale courses are then laid from the gill back, passing behind the string. The long fins and the wide fanned tail are freed late, and the wave ring is cut through at the very end. Fish, coins and wave are all carved; nothing is applied, pinned or filled. Some 3,403kg for fish, wave and slab, craned across onto a poured concrete footing. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEastern subjects gather in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and traditional carving in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/classic-sculptures\"\u003eclassic sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecification\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable class=\"spec_table\"\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHeight\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e180cm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBase\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eIncluded\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHand-Carved Natural Marble\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53837123780955,"sku":"MST-ANI-132","price":25656.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-132_1.jpg?v=1787179061","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/arowana-with-coins-beige-marble-statue-180cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}