Antique Italian Stone Vessel

An antique Italian stone vessel, a shallow rectangular basin with deep diagonal grooves wrapping around its thick outer walls. The scoring runs continuously across every face and up to a soft, wavy rim. The color is dusty beige and pale gray with chalky white at the high points, and the floor of the basin is gently dimpled rather than flat.

It measures 27 1/2 inches wide, 15 1/4 inches deep and 8 1/4 inches high: sink-sized, and shallow enough to sit on a vanity top without dominating it. It is an antique Italian piece; the grooving is original to it and has softened with age. We can cut a drain hole before it leaves us if it is to be plumbed.

On a floating oak vanity it is the wash basin for a powder room; in a courtyard corner it holds a few inches of rainwater as a still pool; under a copper spout in a conservatory it is a quiet catchment. Zellige tile behind it, a honed dark marble slab beneath it, and polished nickel above it all suit the gray in the stone. A stone trough this small is easy to place. This stone vessel has sold. We usually have small Italian basins in the yard; ask and we will send what is current.