{"product_id":"charging-bull-black-marble-statue-180cm","title":"Charging Bull Black Marble Statue - 180cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA bull charges head down, its horns sweeping out level and tapering to fine points. The neck and shoulder swell into one smooth mass, the musculature is simplified into large polished volumes with the flank folds cut as broad grooves, and the tail hangs close. The stone is a near-black marble taken to a mirror polish, warm brown where it catches light. It stands on a base plate left riven and dark at the edge and dressed pale and smooth across the top. Near-black marble, mirror-polished, its base plate a paler grey across the dressed top.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eThe Polish Outlasts the Carving\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eNear-black marble is unforgiving in a way white marble is not: a dark mirror shows every flaw in its own surface, because it reflects rather than scatters. A scratch on white stone is a faint line; the same scratch on this is a bright streak visible across a courtyard. So the polishing is not a finishing stage here, it is most of the work - carried through eight or nine grades of abrasive, each one removing the scratches left by the last, with the piece washed down and inspected under raking light between every grade. It takes longer than shaping the animal did. The riven edge of the base plate is the deliberate counterpoint: split rough and never touched, so the polish above has something to be measured against.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA black polished animal behaves in the exact opposite way to the whites in this range. It does not catch light, it reflects what is around it - so against dark planting or a shaded wall it reads as a silhouette and the modelling disappears entirely, while against pale render, gravel, water or open sky it separates completely and the polish becomes the point. At 180cm the horns reach out at chest height, which is close enough to feel meant. A pale forecourt, a gravel circle, a terrace above water, a lawn with sky behind. Keep it out from under trees: leaf litter and sap mark a mirror polish far more readily than they mark matte stone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDark Stone Needs Light Behind It\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty to twenty-two weeks, and more than half of it is polishing. Polishing near-black marble to a mirror is a longer job than carving the animal was. The base plate is dressed, its top brought smooth and its edge split. The animal is roughed above it, the volumes of neck and shoulder taken down as one mass, and the two long horns held as thick tapered stubs until near the end because they reach furthest and break most easily. The flank grooves are cut, then the whole figure is taken through the polishing grades. Bull and base plate are one block, unpinned and unfilled at every point. Some 3,403kg of dark stone, 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\u003eDark stone is uncommon through \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and polished form fills \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/abstract-sculptures\"\u003eabstract 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":53837358760283,"sku":"MST-ANI-148","price":25656.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-148_1.jpg?v=1787182800","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/charging-bull-black-marble-statue-180cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}