Rare Italian Limestone Trough with Fresco

A rare Italian limestone trough, compact and rectangular, with an antique fresco on one of its long faces. Faded blue and gray botanical motifs spread across that side like a mural set into the stone; the other walls are plain, in pale beige and bone. The top rim is heavily chipped and drops straight into a deep basin, where dark earth stains pool at the flat bottom. Two small round holes pierce the painted face just above the base.

It measures 29 1/2 inches long, 17 inches from front to back and just under 24 inches high. The fresco is worn and partial, as old frescoes are, and the chips to the rim are old. It is an Italian piece, which is itself uncommon in our stock, and it is heavy for its size.

In an intimate courtyard it would take the flow of a brass spout; raised on a low masonry plinth it becomes a painted garden object in its own right; planted with trailing vines it works as an open-air planter. This limestone trough has sold. Painted pieces are rare, but we usually have other Italian and French troughs in the yard or on the water; ask and we will send what is current.