French Antique Foundation Block

Of the French antique limestone blocks we bring back, this foundation block is one of the largest: a near-square mass of pale stone 16 inches thick that stands as a monolith. The weathered palette runs from ash gray through chalk to warm bone, with darker charcoal speckling and faint tide marks across the top. The main face has been softened by time, with light scuffs and faint pitting; the vertical sides keep a rough split finish with deep ridges and tooled lines. The corners are rounded and chipped.

It measures 50 1/4 inches wide, 47 1/2 inches deep and 16 inches high. It came out of a French building where it carried a wall, so it is sound all the way through. The weight is considerable; it travels on a pallet and is set with a crane or a forklift onto a prepared base.

As a pier it frames a gate or an archway; as a plinth it carries a sculpture, an oversized urn or a large pot at the end of a path. Among limestone blocks, this one has the mass to anchor a motor court on its own. It is in our yard in Marina Del Rey; come and see it, or ask us for photographs of each face and a quote with freight.