{"product_id":"roaring-lion-with-a-sphere-honey-marble-statue-145cm","title":"Roaring Lion With a Sphere Honey Marble Statue - 145cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpright on its haunches a lion roars, one forepaw set upon a sphere at the front of its cap. The mane is combed into long waves that sweep off the brow and drop into a deep fringe at the chest, and the tail curls round the haunch. Beneath it is a moulded pedestal with a projecting cap and a stepped base. The stone is a honey-tan beige marble carrying grey-brown veining in broad diagonal bands. A single lion with its pedestal is what this price covers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Ball Set Right at the Edge\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe sphere on this lion is not tucked in beside the animal - it sits out at the very front of the cap, with its outer face standing beyond the moulding below. That changes what the ball is doing. On a piece where the sphere sits inboard, the stone underneath carries it and the carver can undercut freely. Here the ball overhangs, so its underside is left uncut and generous where it meets the cap, and the join is deliberately not opened into a shadow even though a shadow would look better. The paw above it is then worked to sit convincingly on a ball that is thicker at the bottom than the eye expects, which is where the skill in it lies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe grey-brown veining in this stone runs in broad diagonals, and diagonals read as movement, so the piece is livelier than a plain white lion and busier too. Give it a quiet setting: plain render, a brick wall, a dark hedge, gravel. Against patterned paving or variegated planting the veining and the background compete and the carving is the loser. At 145cm on its pedestal the roaring head sits near eye level, which suits a threshold or the head of a short flight better than an open lawn. Honey marble warms under low sun and goes flat in overhead light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eVeining That Runs Across the Bands\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFifteen to seventeen weeks. Squaring and moulding the pedestal comes before anything else, and the animal is then blocked out sitting upon its finished cap. The sphere is left as a cube at the cap's front corner while the seated mass above it is roughed, so there is square stone to measure from. The mane comes next. Mane locks are divided starting at the outermost and travelling in towards the neck. The chest fringe is undercut once the rest of it stands clear. The ball is brought to round in stages, checked against a cardboard template cut to the finished radius, and the paw is cut down onto it in the same sessions so the two arrive at each other. The open jaw and its teeth are the last of the animal, reached through the mouth itself. Neither figure nor pedestal carries a pin, a dowel or a filler of any kind. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Some 1,779kg for a single lion and pedestal, needing a crane and a footing of poured concrete.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFurther pedestal-mounted beasts appear in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and honey-toned stone in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/marble-sculptures\"\u003emarble 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\u003e145cm\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":53834315497819,"sku":"MST-ANI-056","price":22256.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-056_1.jpg?v=1787590601","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/roaring-lion-with-a-sphere-honey-marble-statue-145cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}