{"product_id":"couchant-lion-in-black-marble-on-rock-180cm","title":"Couchant Lion in Black Marble on Rock - 180cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCouchant upon rough rock, a lion turns its head aside and holds its jaws open. The forelegs are stretched out ahead and the tail curls up over the haunch in a closed loop. The mane is cut in broad flat planes rather than fine locks, catching light in facets. The animal rests on a rough natural rock base, left unworked on its outer faces and dressed only where the body meets it. A near-black marble carries grey streaking, set upon a coarse pale grey rock left split.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDressing Only the Face That Bears\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA rock base like this is not carved, it is chosen and then barely touched. It arrives split from the quarry with its outer faces as the split left them, and the only cutting done to it is on top, where the animal has to sit. That bearing face is worked dead flat and dead level, because the whole weight of the lion passes through it and a rocking joint will open in the first frost. Everything else is left alone - no dressing of the edges, no evening-up of the corners, no attempt to make the outline pleasing. The discipline is in not touching it, and it is harder than it sounds when the tool is already in your hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe contrast between the near-black animal and the pale rock is the point of this piece, and both halves want weathering: the marble will dull from satin toward matte and the rock will collect lichen, and the two will pull further apart rather than closer together. So it belongs outdoors and unsealed - in gravel, at the edge of a border, on a bank, half into planting where the rough base meets real earth. At 180cm along the rock this lies low and long, and is looked down upon rather than up at. Broad flat planes are faceted across the mane so light breaks on them instead of shadow. Against a pale wall the dark animal reads well; against dark hedging it disappears and the rock takes over.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDark Stone on Pale Rock, Outdoors\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeventeen to nineteen weeks. Splitting the rock base and dressing only its bearing face comes first, the outer faces left as found. The animal is carved from a separate dark block: roughed couchant, then the stretched forelegs run out ahead and left thick, then the haunch and the closed tail loop. The loop is released from both faces alternately once the body is stable, since it is a bridge of stone with air on either side. The mane is faceted late, in flat planes rubbed rather than chiselled flat. Head and open jaw come last. The two pieces are then bedded together dry on the dressed bearing face. Neither the dark animal nor its rock carries a pin, and the two are bedded together dry. Roughly 3,403kg for animal and rock together, craned whole onto a poured footing. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDark stone is uncommon across \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and weathering pieces belong under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/outdoor-sculptures\"\u003eoutdoor 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":53834970759515,"sku":"MST-ANI-075","price":25664.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-075_1.jpg?v=1787157056","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/couchant-lion-in-black-marble-on-rock-180cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}