{"product_id":"lying-crocodile-white-marble-garden-statue-50cm","title":"Lying Crocodile White Marble Garden Statue - 50cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA crocodile lies at full stretch, its body flat and its tail curving away behind. The back and tail carry raised scutes in staggered rows, the flanks are cut in a fine scale pattern, and the jaws are closed with the teeth showing along the line of the mouth. All four legs splay outward. There is no base of any kind: the animal rests on its own belly and feet. White marble, grey mottling gathered along back and jaw, paler through the flanks. The 50cm is its length, not a height - see the note.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eKeeping Scute Rows True Along a Curving Spine\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe raised scutes down the back and tail are the piece's whole character, and they are the one thing on it that cannot be improvised. They run in staggered rows, which only reads as pattern if the spacing holds; and the spine they follow is not straight, so the rows have to be set out along a curve that changes radius from the neck to the tail tip. Marked by eye they crowd on the inside of the curve and open on the outside, and the animal starts to look badly moulded rather than carved. So the centre line is struck along the spine first and the row positions stepped off it with a measure before any scute is raised, working from the neck backwards so that any accumulated error is pushed into the tail tip where a single row can absorb it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the only piece in the tranche with no base under it, which is not an omission - a crocodile that stood on a plinth would stop being a crocodile. It goes straight onto whatever it lies on. At 50cm along the body this lies almost flat and is read entirely from above. Gravel, a lawn edge, paving, the margin of a pool, a wide step, a shallow bed of pebbles: anywhere the eye arrives at it from above and slightly to one side, which is where the scute rows and the scale pattern both read. It is a piece that works by being come upon rather than by being displayed, so half-concealed at the edge of planting suits it better than open lawn. At 73kg two people can move it, so the position is not a commitment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eRead Entirely From Above\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTen to twelve weeks, the shortest here. Laying out the scute rows along the spine comes first, so their spacing runs true from neck to tail tip. The block is dressed to a long shallow section and the animal's outline struck on it in plan, which is unusual: almost everything else in this range is set out in elevation. The body is brought down as one low mass, then the tail curve, then the four splayed legs, each freed late because it stands clear on thin stone. The scute rows are raised from the neck backwards and the flank scales cut last, the jaws and teeth being the final work. No pinning and no filler at any point - the whole reptile is one piece of stone. Only 73kg and a two-person lift, bedded onto a prepared pad outdoors or set on any firm level floor indoors. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReptiles are rarer still across \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and pieces this size suit \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/indoor-sculptures\"\u003eindoor 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\u003e50cm\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":53836658704731,"sku":"MST-ANI-103","price":6466.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-103_1.jpg?v=1787173466","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/lying-crocodile-white-marble-garden-statue-50cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}