{"product_id":"sitting-frog-grey-granite-statue-120cm","title":"Sitting Frog Grey Granite Statue - 120cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA frog sits with its forelegs braced and its head raised, the wide mouth cut as one line. The hind legs are folded high at the flanks and the skin is left entirely smooth apart from a shallow incised ring behind each eye. THE EYES ARE INSET: glossy domed amber-brown beads standing proud of the skull. There is no base at all: the frog sits directly on its own belly and feet. This is GRANITE, not marble: the stone is densely speckled with dark and pale mineral grains. Mid grey granite with a cool cast, matte throughout, its pale grains half the speckle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eGranite Is a Different Speed Entirely\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eNothing about cutting granite resembles cutting marble. It will not take a chisel: the tooling is diamond throughout, run wet, and the water is not a nicety - it carries the dust away and keeps the blade from burning, and a dry cut ruins both the tool and the surface. Everything takes several times as long per centimetre removed, which changes what is worth carving at all. That is why this frog is smooth: the form is large and simple because granite rewards mass and punishes detail, and the two incised rings behind the eyes are almost the only cut lines on the whole piece. A marble frog would have been given a modelled skin; in granite that would have doubled the schedule for something nobody would thank you for.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo things make this easy to place. It sits directly on its own belly and feet with no slab or plinth, and at 80 per cent stone with no thin passages anywhere there is nothing on it to break. At 120cm the raised head comes near the waist, and it is looked down upon. Grass, gravel, paving, a lawn edge, the margin of a pond, a wide step, low planting. Granite is also the most weather-resistant stone we work: it takes frost, salt and rain far better than marble, so this is a piece for an exposed position where a white marble animal would want more care. The inset amber eyes are the one thing to keep an eye on over the years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNo Base, and Nothing Fragile\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEighteen to twenty weeks, and the material sets the pace. Cutting granite needs diamond tooling and running water, and it is far slower than marble. The block is squared and the frog roughed within it, the folded hind legs left as solid masses against the flanks. The body and head come down as large simple volumes with the mouth cut as a single long line. The braced forelegs are freed late because there is no slab to protect them. The eye sockets are bored, tested and opened by fractions, and the amber beads bedded at the very end. Nothing in the granite is pinned or filled; only the eye beads are set in. Just over a tonne, unbased, and a gantry will bed it onto a prepared pad. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmphibians are rare in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and lawn-scale pieces belong to \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\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHand-Carved Natural Granite\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53841764548955,"sku":"MST-ANI-167","price":15296.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-167_1.jpg?v=1787232279","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/sitting-frog-grey-granite-statue-120cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}