French Antique Cast Dogs

French antique cast stone dogs, standing hounds with heads up and ears alert, the architectural elements that used to guard a gate or the foot of a stair. The cast stone has weathered hard: chalky white, charcoal and faded ochre, with a pitted, open surface. The fur across the chests and necks is still deeply modeled under the wear, while the snouts, tongues, ears and front legs have softened where the weather has had the most to say. The bases are irregular and chipped.

Each dog measures 12 inches wide, 24 inches deep and 29 1/2 inches high. There are three of them, so a pair plus one, or three in a row. Cast stone is porous; set them on a flat base out of standing water.

Put a pair either side of a front door or a garden gate, set one at the bottom of a sweeping stair, or stand them in a clipped box parterre where the pale stone shows against the green. Against terracotta, old plaster or antique limestone the ochre comes forward. As architectural elements go, they travel more easily than most. They are in our yard in Marina Del Rey; come and meet them, or ask us for photographs of each dog and a price for one, two or three.