{"product_id":"caparisoned-elephant-on-a-pedestal-marble-statue-180cm","title":"Caparisoned Elephant on a Pedestal Marble Statue - 180cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHead turned outward, an elephant stands caparisoned above a slab and a moulded pedestal. A cloth lies over the back about a bordered roundel, with beaded harness and a carved headpiece. One carved character sits at the centre of that roundel. We give no rendering of it: a character read wrongly would be repeated by every buyer who relies on it, so the question has gone to the carvers. The ears are spread and the trunk curls down. The slab it stands on is carried on short dark blocks above a moulded pedestal banded with lotus lobes, a chevron apron and scrolling friezes. White marble with faint grey drift, the short spacer blocks a darker stone left plain. Sold individually, so order two for a facing pair.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eSpacers Dressed to One Height\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe slab under this elephant does not sit on the pedestal - it sits on four short blocks, which lift it clear and leave a shadow gap between the two. That gap is the point of them, and it is also the difficulty: four blocks that differ by a millimetre will rock a slab carrying two tonnes, and a rocking slab will crack at the first frost. So the blocks are dressed together rather than one at a time, checked against each other on a surface plate, and set with the slab dry-laid on top and weighted before anything is finally bedded. They are left plain because they are meant to read as shadow rather than as carving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly the cloth and the plinth carry ornament on this piece, and both sit well up from where anyone stands. which is what a temple elephant is composed for - viewed along its length and from beneath, not looked down upon. So it asks for an approach: an arched entrance, a driveway, the foot of a wide stair, a courtyard gate. At 180cm the carved cloth sits above the eye, as a temple elephant's is meant to. The shadow gap under the slab reads best where light comes from the side; from directly in front it closes up and the spacers look like a mistake rather than a device.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eOrnament That Rides Above the Eye\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEighteen to twenty weeks. Dressing the spacer blocks to an identical height opens the work, since an uneven set would rock the slab above. The pedestal courses are then dressed, their lobes and friezes cut, and the slab worked flat on both faces. The animal comes from its own block: roughed standing, legs kept as columns, then body and the deep ear folds. The saddle-cloth is let into the back with its border and roundel. The trunk is cut last of the animal. Assembly runs pedestal, spacers, slab, elephant, each bed proved before the next goes on. Nothing is pinned or filled anywhere, and every course beds dry upon the one below. Near 3,403kg for one beast and its pedestal, craned in courses onto a concrete foundation. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePedestal-borne beasts recur across \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and white stone throughout \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/marble-sculptures\"\u003emarble 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":53836584059227,"sku":"MST-ANI-088","price":30941.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-088_1.jpg?v=1787590630","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/caparisoned-elephant-on-a-pedestal-marble-statue-180cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}