{"product_id":"three-dolphins-on-a-column-marble-statue-200cm","title":"Three Dolphins on a Column Marble Statue - 200cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree dolphins rise one above another in a tall column of carved water. All three heads are up and all three bodies nearly vertical, the topmost clear of the water and the lowest half buried in it. The water is cut in long combed flutes with rows of rounded bosses along the crests. The whole spreads to a rounded foot. The surface is matte and softly finished throughout rather than polished. Pale grey-white marble with a cool cast, matte throughout and softly finished.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Stack Is Fixed Before It Exists\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree animals arranged one above another is a composition that cannot be adjusted. Each dolphin sits in the space left by the one below it, so moving any of them by a hand's width means moving all three - and by the time the second is roughed out the first is already committed. The whole stack is therefore drawn on the raw block, in elevation and from both sides, and stepped off with a measure before a single pass is taken. The order of work then runs downward, from the topmost animal to the lowest, so that the finished carving is always above the tool rather than beneath it; and the lowest dolphin, which is half buried in the wave, is the last thing freed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a tall narrow piece - two metres up and very little across - which makes it useful where a wide sculpture would not fit: a corner, a niche, the end of a narrow walk, beside a doorway, against a pier, in a raised bed. At 200cm the topmost head goes well overhead and the lowest sits near the knee. The three animals face much the same way, so unlike our five-dolphin column this one has a front and wants to be approached from it. The matte surface is worth noting: it is softly finished rather than polished, which means it holds its detail in flat light where a gloss would throw glare, and it suits an overcast climate better than a bright one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eHeight Without Width\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty to twenty-two weeks. Stacking three animals up one column means the composition is fixed on the raw stone. That setting-out is done before anything else. The column and its rounded foot are then blocked as one solid mass, and the animals are then worked downward from the topmost, each freed as its turn comes. The combed flutes and rounded crest bosses are cut course by course as the work descends, and the lowest animal is freed last of all. All three animals and the column come from one block, with nothing pinned. Some 4,668kg for the whole column, craned upright onto a poured concrete foundation. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStacked compositions recur in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and poolside work throughout \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/outdoor-sculptures\"\u003eoutdoor sculptures\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\u003e200cm\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":53837358825819,"sku":"MST-ANI-150","price":30593.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-150_1.jpg?v=1787182802","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/three-dolphins-on-a-column-marble-statue-200cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}