French Antique Limestone Wellhead

A French antique limestone wellhead cut as a slab rather than a ring: a thick, roughly rectangular block with a round opening through its center. The face is deeply pitted, so light breaks across it in small highlights and dark pockets. The color runs from bleached bone to oyster gray, heavily marked with iron-rich rust and patches of mineral-green moss. The corners are blunt and uneven, and the whole piece reads as geology more than as a made object.

It measures 39 by 44 inches across the top and 10 inches thick, with a central opening 16 1/2 inches in diameter that passes right through. The surface is matte and dry, open-grained and sponge-like to the hand, showing centuries of erosion rather than any tool finish.

Set in a gravel court it makes the base for a bubbling fountain, where water will darken the gray stone to slate; it also serves as a low plinth for a large terracotta jar, or stands alone in a planted bed with thyme or sedum around its edge. Its low profile defines a space without blocking a view. This stone wellhead has sold; similar slabs and rings come through our yard, so ask and we will send what is current.