{"product_id":"standing-lion-in-clouded-grey-marble-statue-205cm","title":"Standing Lion in Clouded Grey Marble Statue - 205cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFour-square upon a moulded pedestal a lion stands, its head carried round to face outward. Its mane falls in long rippled locks well past the chest and the body is modelled lean through the flank. The tail hangs down behind the haunch. The pedestal has a projecting cap, a sunk field on each face and a stepped base. The stone is a white marble carrying heavy grey clouding, strongest through the pedestal faces and across the hindquarters. The two versions differ in pose, and one lion with its pedestal is priced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eKeeping a Margin Readable Through Cloud\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA sunk field is read by its margin - a straight band of raised stone running round a recess - and a margin is only visible because of the shadow at its edge. Put heavy grey clouding through the same face and the cloud draws lines of its own that cross the margin at random, so the eye stops being able to follow it. The answer is not to cut the field deeper everywhere, which would look coarse, but to vary it: the margin is sunk further where a dark cloud runs across it and eased back where the stone is pale, so the shadow stays constant even though the depth does not. It is measured with a depth gauge rather than judged by eye, because the eye is exactly what the cloud is fooling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA heavily clouded grey reads as busy, and the more contrast there is around it the busier it gets. Against dark hedging it can disappear into the mass; against bright white render it looks dirty. What suits it is a mid-toned, even background - weathered brick, stone walling, a mixed border - and light that comes from above rather than across, because raking sun adds shadows that compete with the clouding. At 205cm the pedestal carries that head clear above eye level, and it looks outward, So it asks for a route rather than a recess - a drive, an entrance arch, the bottom of a broad flight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eGrey Stone Wants Light, Not Contrast\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eNineteen to twenty-one weeks. Running the pedestal mouldings and sinking its fields comes first, and the standing animal is roughed above them once the bed proves flat. The block is turned and wetted before the fields are set out, so the carver knows where the cloud will fall across them. The lion is carved from its own block: roughed standing, then the flank and hindquarters brought down lean, and the mane divided afterwards. Long mane ripples are opened in successive passes, deepest at the chest.. The tail is cut clear of the haunch late. The head is turned last, once the body is stable. Assembly follows, courses bedded in order and the animal set on the cap. No pinning and no filler are used in the animal, and the pedestal is bedded rather than glued. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Some 5,027kg for one lion and pedestal, requiring a crane and a poured concrete footing under it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComparable clouded stone stands in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and pieces of this height in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/life-size-large-statues\"\u003elife size large 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\u003e205cm\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":53872386048347,"sku":"MST-ANI-062-V1","price":34775.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Version 2","offer_id":53872386081115,"sku":"MST-ANI-062-V2","price":34775.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-062_1.jpg?v=1787590605","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/standing-lion-in-clouded-grey-marble-statue-205cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}