{"product_id":"seated-lion-on-an-irregular-slab-marble-statue-135cm","title":"Seated Lion on an Irregular Slab Marble Statue - 135cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBack on its haunches with the head raised and turned, a lion sits on an irregular slab. Its mouth is slightly parted and one foreleg is set forward of the other. The mane falls in long soft waves from a raised crest at the crown, down past the chest, and the tail curls in against the haunch. The slab is cut to an uneven outline with the corners left irregular rather than squared. The stone is a white marble threaded with fine branching grey veins across flank and slab.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Base Cut Last, to Answer the Carving\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlmost every base in this range is squared before the animal is begun, because a square base gives the carver something to measure from. This one is not. Its outline is left rough and oversize through the whole of the carving and cut to shape at the very end, so its edges can be run to suit where the paws and the tail actually finished rather than where the drawing said they would. That is a harder way to work - every measurement has to come off the animal instead of off the base - but it is the only way to get a base that looks found rather than made, because a shape cut to a plan always looks planned.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe point of an irregular base is that it does not declare a boundary, so it looks right where the edge can disappear: into gravel, low planting, a bed of thyme, moss at the foot of a wall. On a paved terrace the uneven outline reads as a mistake rather than a decision, because the paving lines are straight and the base is not. At 135cm this sits below the shoulder, so the raised head is read from slightly above. The fine branching grey veins in this stone show best in even light rather than raking sun, which puts its own lines across them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAn Uneven Edge Wants Loose Ground\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwelve to fourteen weeks. Cutting the irregular slab outline is deferred until the animal above it is finished, so its shape answers the carving. The seated mass is roughed on a slab left deliberately oversize, then body, haunch and the forward foreleg brought to shape. Soft waves are drawn from the crown crest downward, thinning as they pass the chest. The crown crest is separated after the waves below it are clear, and the tail cut in against the haunch. The head is raised and turned near the end, after the body has settled and no further turning of the piece is required. Only then is the slab cut back to its irregular outline, worked from the animal outward. No pinning, no filling and no hidden joint occur anywhere in animal or slab. Roughly 1,436kg in one undivided block, gantry-borne and bedded onto a prepared footing. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSingle seated beasts fill part of \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, with garden-scale 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\u003e135cm\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":53834964599131,"sku":"MST-ANI-068","price":19056.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-068_1.jpg?v=1787157049","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/seated-lion-on-an-irregular-slab-marble-statue-135cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}