{"product_id":"winged-lion-with-a-lion-mask-shield-marble-statue-225cm","title":"Winged Lion With a Lion Mask Shield Marble Statue - 225cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA winged lion stands roaring, the head swung round to face outward and the jaws held wide, its wings folded back along the body in tiered rows of feathers. It is a winged lion rather than a griffin - a maned head with a heavy jaw and no trace of a beak. One forepaw rests on the top edge of a shield standing upright beside it, and the shield is carved with a lion's mask at its centre and rolled scrolls above and below. It stands on a thick rectangular slab. The marble is white with grey veining through the slab and soft clouding across the haunch and the wing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Second Face, Kept in Its Place\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are two lion faces on this sculpture and only one of them is allowed to be the subject. The mask on the shield is a face carved on a flat surface at about a third the scale of the real head above it, and if it is cut with the same depth of shadow and the same detail it competes - the eye goes to the shield and the animal becomes its frame. So the mask is deliberately held back: shallower relief, softer edges on the mane locks, eyes left as hollows rather than cut with lids, no undercutting anywhere. It is finished to read at three paces while the animal's own head reads at thirty. Restraint is the whole skill in it, and it is the part of the piece most often overworked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt 225cm this is the tallest lion in the range and the head is well above head height with the shield facing outward, so it is composed for an approach that comes to it from the front and one side. Gate piers, a courtyard entrance, the foot of a broad flight or a position against a wall that closes off the rear view all suit it - the wings are swept back, so from directly behind there is little to see. It needs a firm level bed for its weight and clear air to one side for the shield. White marble with grey clouding carries well against brick, render and dark planting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eThe Tallest Here, and It Wants a Front\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty-two to twenty-four weeks, the longest in this group. The slab is cut thick and the shield set out on it first, because the raised forepaw is fitted to the shield rather than the shield to the paw. The animal is roughed standing, wings blocked solid along the back and left that way through the body work. Flank, haunch and legs follow, then the mane, then the wings taken down to their feather rows from the trailing edge forward. The shield's frame and scrolls are cut next and its mask last of the shield work, deliberately shallow. The animal's own head and open jaw are the final cuts. Nothing is pinned or filled. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops. Around 6,647kg in two parts, the heaviest here, craned onto a poured concrete foundation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther winged beasts are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and the largest work under \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\u003e225cm\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":53833758900571,"sku":"MST-ANI-052","price":35749.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-052_1.jpg?v=1787152583","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/winged-lion-with-a-lion-mask-shield-marble-statue-225cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}