French Antique Limestone Trough

A French antique limestone trough that is nearly square in plan, with a textured exterior face full of old tool marks, soft blocky corners and natural fissures earned over decades in a farmyard. The color is a warm cream shading to sun-bleached sand, with soft charcoal mineral marks here and there. The walls are thick and the profile heavy, so the piece sits low and settled on the ground.

It measures 40 inches long, 36 inches from front to back and 13 inches high. The planting area is generous for the height, which suits spreading plants rather than tall ones. It is a reclaimed piece with the wear and small chips of its working life, and heavy enough to need a pallet and a forklift to set.

A near-square stone trough like this one sits well at the center of a gravel court, at the turn of a path, or beneath a window as a planted sill at ground level. It takes a low mound of thyme or a spill of trailing geranium, or holds water under a simple spout. The limestone trough is in our yard in Marina Del Rey, where you can see it by appointment, or we will send more photographs and a quote.