French Antique 19th Century Limestone Trough

A round French antique limestone trough from the 19th century, the smallest of a group of round troughs in our yard and the easiest of them to place. The limestone is a quiet gray with the usual passages of warmer tone where the stone has taken iron from the rain, and the rim has worn soft and uneven. The outer wall keeps the open, pitted texture of weathered stone; the inside is smoother, as working basins always are.

It is 39 1/2 inches in diameter and 27 inches high. The basin measures 33 inches across and about 21 3/4 inches deep, so the walls are a little over three inches thick and the volume inside is generous for a limestone trough of this footprint. Condition is as found: weathered, chipped at the rim in places, with surface staining that we would not want to clean away.

Its moderate size suits a town courtyard or a roof terrace that can take the load, as a planter for a lemon tree or a clipped box ball, or as a small reflecting basin by a bench. It will also take a center jet as a modest fountain. The trough is in our yard in Marina Del Rey; come by appointment, or ask us for photographs and a quote.