{"product_id":"roaring-lion-polished-black-granite-statue-120cm","title":"Roaring Lion Polished Black Granite Statue - 120cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lion stands square with its head turned to one side and its jaws open in a roar, the mane cut in long layered locks that fall into a fringe below the chest. The flank and hind leg are modelled lean and the tail rises from the haunch into a high open loop. It stands on a rectangular slab, with a short textured strut carried up under the chest. The granite is a near-black, taken to a mirror polish, and the bevelled edge of the slab shows the fine even speckle that runs through the stone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eWhy a Mirror Polish Is the Hard Part\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eGranite is far harder than marble and it does not forgive. Every form has to be finished completely before polishing starts, because a mirror surface magnifies whatever is under it - a facet left flat, a curve that is slightly out, a tool mark that would disappear on a matte white stone all become obvious once the surface starts reflecting. The polish itself is not one operation but a ladder of them, each with a finer diamond head than the last, and the piece is washed and dried between stages so the previous grit cannot score the next. On the deep undercuts of the mane the heads will not reach and the polish is brought up by hand on small pads, which is most of the time this stage takes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA mirror-polished black behaves like dark glass outdoors. It reflects the sky, so it reads bright and busy under an open aspect and reads deep and solid against a wall, a hedge or a fence - and the second of those is usually what people want from it. Keep it clear of overhanging trees, because leaf fall and sap mark a polished surface far more visibly than a matte one and both want removing before they sit. Black stone also takes up heat in direct sun. At 120cm the roaring head is around chest height, close enough that the reflection is part of what you see.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eWhere a Reflective Black Belongs\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eSixteen to eighteen weeks, longer than a marble lion of the same size, and almost all of the difference is in the stone's hardness rather than the design. The slab is cut and its bevel dressed first, then the animal roughed standing on it. The strut under the chest is left in place from the beginning: it is structural while the piece is being worked and it stays as part of the finished carving. Ribs, flank and hind leg follow, then the mane, worked outward to inward. The tail loop is released from both sides alternately once the body is stable. Only then does polishing begin, through the full ladder of diamond heads and by hand in the undercuts. Nothing is pinned or filled - animal, strut and slab all come from one block. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Around 1,008kg as a single block, taken in by gantry and bedded onto a prepared concrete pad.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther standing beasts are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and the harder stone under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/granite-sculptures\"\u003egranite 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\u003e120cm\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 Granite\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53833346613595,"sku":"MST-ANI-033","price":17804.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-033_1.jpg?v=1787150637","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/roaring-lion-polished-black-granite-statue-120cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}