{"product_id":"caparisoned-elephant-grey-granite-statue-260cm","title":"Caparisoned Elephant Grey Granite Statue - 260cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eElaborately caparisoned and seen in profile, an elephant stands with its trunk curled up. A key-fret border frames the roundel, above a band of stylised waves, with beaded pendants at the flank and a cloud-scroll headpiece across the brow. Within the roundel sits one carved character, left untranscribed until the workshop tells us what it means rather than us inferring it. The tusks project forward and the trunk curls up and inward. Beneath is a tall pedestal of several courses, banded with beading, key-fret and scrolling foliage. A pale grey granite, its paler passages reading almost white between a fine even speckle that runs right through animal and pedestal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eTen Tonnes, in Courses\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt this weight nothing is lifted whole, and that governs the whole schedule. The pedestal is cut as separate courses because no single block of granite this size could be handled, let alone shipped, and each course is dressed flat on both beds and tested against its neighbour on the workshop floor before any ornament is cut into it. Getting that right early is not optional: a bed that rocks by a millimetre at the bottom of a stack this tall will open a visible joint at the top, and by then there is a ten-tonne assembly sitting on it. The bands of beading, key-fret and foliage are cut course by course afterwards, each one set out to meet its neighbours exactly at the corners.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt 260cm and over ten tonnes this is the biggest thing in the range, and its requirements are structural before they are aesthetic: a poured concrete foundation, crane access to the position, and bearing soil that will not settle under the load. Once it is there it needs distance more than anything else - a long drive, the far end of a formal garden, a courtyard big enough to stand back in. At 260cm this is the tallest piece we make, and it needs distance more than anything. Granite weathers almost not at all, so it will look much the same in fifty years as on the day it is set.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eThe Largest Piece We Make\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty-eight to thirty-two weeks, the longest lead time in the range. Cutting the pedestal courses and their bands occupies the first months, this being much the largest base we make. Granite is far harder than marble and every stage takes longer: diamond tooling throughout, more passes, and constant water. The beast comes from a block of its own: raised standing, the legs kept as heavy columns, then the body, then the deep folds of the ears. The saddle-cloth with its key-fret border, wave band and roundel is sunk into the back afterwards. Trunk and tusks come last. Assembly is a day's crane work on a foundation prepared weeks before. Nothing across the courses is pinned or filled; every bed is worked flat and laid dry. About 10,256kg, the heaviest we make, craned course by course onto poured concrete. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGranite animals are few among \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and gather instead in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/granite-sculptures\"\u003egranite 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\u003e260cm\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 Granite\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53835197776219,"sku":"MST-ANI-083","price":47573.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-083_1.jpg?v=1787158467","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/caparisoned-elephant-grey-granite-statue-260cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}