{"product_id":"roaring-lion-with-a-sphere-white-marble-statue-145cm","title":"Roaring Lion With a Sphere White Marble Statue - 145cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lion sits back on its haunches with its jaws wide in a roar and its head facing forward, one forepaw laid on a sphere that sits on the slab at its side. The mane ripples down in long waves reaching well past the chest and the other foreleg is straight. It sits on a thin slab with a bevelled edge. The marble is white, with grey veining across the slab and faintly through the flank. Sold individually, so order two for a matching pair.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eCutting a Jaw Through Its Own Opening\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEverything inside this lion's mouth - the teeth, the tongue, the ridged palate, the throat behind it - has to be carved through the gap between the jaws, and that gap is narrower than the tools would like. There is no way in from behind and no way to open the mouth wider to work and close it again afterwards. So the sequence runs outside in: the lips and the line of the jaw are established first, then the opening is taken back in stages with a finer tool at every pass, and the last of it is done with a chisel held at arm's length and guided by feel more than by sight. The teeth are left standing proud of the palate and cut individually, and they are the last thing finished because a broken tooth cannot be replaced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe head on this lion faces straight forward rather than turning to the side, so the composition is a frontal one and it loses most of its force seen from an angle. That makes it a threshold piece: either side of a doorway, at the top of a flight, or on the axis of a path so that people arrive facing it. At 145cm seated the muzzle is at roughly eye level, which is close enough that the carved mouth is the first thing anyone notices. Its bevelled slab is thin enough to sit straight onto paving or gravel with nothing built under it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Forward-Facing Head Is Met Head-On\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFourteen to sixteen weeks. The slab is cut and bevelled, a cube for the sphere is left standing in one corner, and the seated animal is then roughed out next to it. The forelegs are set next, one straight and one raised to the ball, and the ball is brought to round afterwards so the paw and the sphere are cut to each other rather than one to a finished shape. The mane follows, worked from the outer locks inward, with the long ripples undercut in passes. The face is left to the end and the mouth to the very end of that, worked outside in through its own opening with the teeth cut last. Nothing is pinned or filled - animal, sphere and slab all come from one block. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Around 1,779kg as a single block, gantry-lifted and bedded on a prepared concrete pad.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther roaring beasts are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and threshold work under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/garden-statues\"\u003egarden statues\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":53833753755995,"sku":"MST-ANI-050","price":24134.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-050_1.jpg?v=1787590597","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/roaring-lion-with-a-sphere-white-marble-statue-145cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}