{"product_id":"roaring-seated-lion-on-a-pedestal-marble-statue-215cm","title":"Roaring Seated Lion on a Pedestal Marble Statue - 215cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lion sits erect on its haunches with its jaws open in a roar and its head turned slightly outward, the forepaws set square and the mane cut in deep locks that fall in a heavy fringe to the chest. It sits on a moulded pedestal with a sunk field on the face and a stepped base beneath. Grey veining runs through the pedestal and the cap of an otherwise white marble, and more faintly over the haunch. The two versions differ in the head: one roars with the mouth open, the other sits with it closed and the head carried higher.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Sunk Field Is All Straight Lines\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe recessed face on this pedestal is not applied to it. The whole face is cut back and a margin is left standing round the edge, which means the finished thing is a straight line sitting a short distance from another straight line, all the way round. Nothing is more unforgiving. A curve that wanders by a millimetre reads as a curve; a straight margin that wanders by a millimetre reads as a mistake, and the eye finds it immediately because it has the pedestal's own edge to compare against. So the margin is set out with a square and a line before any stone is removed, the field is sunk in shallow passes across its whole area rather than corner by corner, and the four inside corners are cut last, by hand, because a machine head leaves them rounded.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn open jaw is the loudest thing a carver can put on an animal and it works at a distance - the shadow inside the mouth reads from far further away than a mane or a paw does. That makes this a piece for an approach rather than a corner: a drive, a gateway, the foot of a broad flight, somewhere it is seen from thirty paces before it is seen from three. At 215cm on its pedestal the head is well above eye level and turned outward, which is the angle it is carved for. Against brick, or against a dark hedge, the white stone and its grey veining both come forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Roar Carries, So Give It Distance\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEighteen to twenty weeks. The pedestal is cut first, its mouldings run and its sunk field set out and taken down, corners last. The lion is carved from its own block: roughed seated with the forepaws left thick where they sit at the front of the cap, then the haunch and flank brought in, then the mane separated from the outer locks inward with the chest fringe undercut after it. The open jaw is cut at the end - teeth, tongue and palate all reached through the mouth opening itself, which is narrower than the tools would like. Assembly is the final stage, the courses bedded up in order and the animal set on the cap once the bed is proved flat. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Around 5,799kg in two parts, craned in sequence onto a footing of poured concrete.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther seated beasts are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and entrance 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\u003e215cm\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":"Version 1","offer_id":53872384737627,"sku":"MST-ANI-048-V1","price":30602.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Version 2","offer_id":53872384770395,"sku":"MST-ANI-048-V2","price":30602.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-048_1.jpg?v=1787590593","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/roaring-seated-lion-on-a-pedestal-marble-statue-215cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}