{"product_id":"seated-lion-looking-up-with-a-sphere-marble-statue-120cm","title":"Seated Lion Looking Up With a Sphere Marble Statue - 120cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lion sits back on its haunches with its head lifted and turned to one side and its jaws open, one forepaw resting on top of a sphere set on the slab beside it. The mane is cut in long smooth waves that fall well below the chest, the hind leg is folded under and the tail curls round the haunch. It sits on a slab with a roughly chiselled edge. The marble is white and left matte, with soft grey shading gathered in the recesses of the mane.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Head Turned Off the Axis\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA seated lion is normally carved symmetrically, which gives the carver a free check: anything wrong on one side of the face shows up against the other. This one lifts its head and turns it, and that check disappears. Every lock of the mane now runs a different length on the near side from the far side, the jaw opens across the axis rather than along it, and the only way to keep the head convincing is to work it against measured points taken from the shoulders rather than by eye. The neck is also short on a seated animal, so the turn has to be found in a small amount of stone - which is why the head is roughed early, with spare material left at the throat, and refined only at the end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis lion is left matte rather than polished, so its detail comes from shadow instead of reflection, and it holds up in shade where a glossy stone would go flat. The head is lifted and turned, which means the face is composed for a viewer standing off to one side and slightly above - so set it on the ground or a low step rather than on a plinth, and approach it from the side it is looking towards. At 120cm seated it comes to about waist height. The chisel-dressed slab edge lets it sit into gravel or planting without a made-up base.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMatte White, Set Below Eye Level\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEleven to thirteen weeks. The slab is cut first and the sphere blocked out on it as a cube in one corner, then the animal roughed seated beside it. The head is roughed early with spare stone at the throat, because the lift and the turn have to be found in a short neck and cannot be adjusted once the mane is cut. Measured points are taken off the shoulders and used throughout, since the pose gives no symmetry to check against. The mane is worked outward to inward, longer on the near side than the far one. The ball is worked down from its cube by halving the facets over and over, and the paw resting on it is cut during the same sessions, so neither has to be adjusted to suit the other afterwards. The surface is finished matte by hand and the slab edge dressed last. Nothing is pinned or filled - lion, sphere and slab come from one block. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Around 1,008kg in one piece, lifted by gantry and bedded on a prepared concrete footing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore seated beasts are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and matte pieces 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\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 Marble\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53833347236187,"sku":"MST-ANI-041","price":18778.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-041_1.jpg?v=1787150644","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/seated-lion-looking-up-with-a-sphere-marble-statue-120cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}