{"product_id":"resting-swan-on-a-riven-base-marble-statue-80cm","title":"Resting Swan on a Riven Base Marble Statue - 80cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA swan rests with wings folded high, the neck curving down and the bill turned in. The wing feathers are cut in long overlapping tiers, each tier deeply undercut, and a turned collar runs round the base of the body. Black is laid on at the lore, the bill edge and the eye, with the bill itself kept white. Beneath it a thick plate of coarse grey-buff marble is left riven along its split edge. Fine white marble above, with soft grey veining through neck, body and collar. Both stones here are marble, one fine and one coarse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Split Edge, Left Exactly As It Broke\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe base of this piece is not sawn and it is not carved. Its edge is split - riven with a point so the stone fails along its own bedding - and then left completely alone, which is a harder thing to carry off than finishing it would be. A riven edge has to look quarried rather than unfinished, and that means it is taken in one go and never touched afterwards: go back to improve a patch and it reads instantly as tooling rather than fracture. It also has to be done before the collar on its upper face is turned, because turning a true circle needs the plate clamped, and clamping a plate whose edge is already riven risks the very fracture you spent the effort controlling. So: split first, then turn the seating, then the bird.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe riven base is the clue to where this belongs. A split edge reads as rock at the water's margin, and the piece is composed to be seen from slightly above and to one side, as though you had come upon a bird on a stone at the edge of a lake. At 80cm it is meant to be looked down into, from a bank or a poolside rather than across. So a bank, a poolside, the margin of a tank, a gravel bed, low planting - not a pedestal, which raises it out of the setting the base is imitating. The black on the head is applied colour and not stone, and outdoors it will want attention every few years. Our other version of this swan stands on a granite plate instead, which is a quite different and much more formal object.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMade to Be Looked Down Into\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFourteen to sixteen weeks. Splitting the base edge riven and leaving it alone is deliberate, and it is done before the collar is turned. The plate is split at its edge in one pass, then clamped and its upper seating turned true. The bird is roughed above as a compact mass, body and folded wings together, and the neck held thick until late. The feather tiers are laid from the shoulder outward and each is undercut, which is deeper work than on our granite-based version. The collar is turned, the bird seated, and the colour laid on last. No pinning and no filler in bird or base, which bed dry one upon the other. Only 299kg with its base plate, set by hand and bedded onto a prepared footing. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResting birds appear across \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and lakeside work 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\u003e80cm\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":53837123944795,"sku":"MST-ANI-135","price":10081.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-135_1.jpg?v=1787179066","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/resting-swan-on-a-riven-base-marble-statue-80cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}