{"product_id":"winged-lion-with-a-carved-crown-marble-statue-210cm","title":"Winged Lion With a Carved Crown Marble Statue - 210cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA winged lion stands with its head turned outward and its jaws open in a roar, one large feathered wing rising from the shoulder and sweeping back in tiered rows. The head is a lion's - a broad muzzle, a full mane in long combed locks, no beak - so this is a winged lion rather than a griffin. The near forepaw rests on a small carved block set on the plinth, which carries a crown on its front face and a foliate mask on its side. The marble is a pale cream with a faintly open texture and a beige cast in the deeper cuts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eWhere the Mane and the Wing Meet\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe hardest few centimetres on this piece are at the shoulder, where the mane and the wing arrive at the same place. Both are deeply undercut - the mane locks lift away from the neck, the wing lifts away from the back - and they have to be cut into each other without either one losing the stone it needs to stand up. The carver works the junction from three directions in turn, taking very little at a time, and leaves a small web of stone joining the innermost wing feather to the mane until both are otherwise finished. That web is the last thing removed on the whole sculpture. Everything else, including the crown on the block, is complete before it goes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt 210cm with the wing above the shoulder this is a piece composed to be looked up at. The turned head and the raised wing both read from below and from in front; from directly behind, the wing hides most of the animal. So it belongs where the approach is fixed - a gateway, a courtyard entrance, the foot of steps, or against a wall that closes off the back view you do not want. It needs clear air above and to one side for the wing. The pale cream marble sits comfortably against stone, render and gravel, and the faintly open texture takes weathering without looking damaged.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Heraldic Beast Seen From Below\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty to twenty-two weeks. The plinth is cut and the small carved block dressed and set out on it first, since the raised forepaw has to be fitted to the block rather than the block to the paw. The animal is roughed standing, and the wing is blocked out as one solid mass off the shoulder and carried that way through nearly all of the carving - it is the most exposed part of the piece and the least able to survive being knocked. Body, flank and hind leg follow, then the mane. The wing is separated into its tiered feather rows late, trailing edge first and forward. The crown and the foliate mask on the block are cut after that. The web joining wing to mane is removed last of all. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Around 5,404kg in two parts, both craned and bedded onto a prepared concrete foundation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore winged beasts sit in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and large entrance pieces under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/large-garden-statues\"\u003elarge garden 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\u003e210cm\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":53833347105115,"sku":"MST-ANI-038","price":37974.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-038_1.jpg?v=1787150642","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/winged-lion-with-a-carved-crown-marble-statue-210cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}