Antique Stone Trough With Long Rectangular Basin

A low antique stone vessel, irregular in outline, with golden lichen and a dark patina spread across its ash-gray walls. The top edge undulates along its whole length, and inside, the basin is only subtly scooped, worn smooth and pale by water. The exterior is deeply pitted and left rough, so the smooth interior comes as a surprise when you look down into it.

It measures 67 inches wide, 26 inches deep and 14 inches high, a wide shallow stance that sits close to the ground. By type it is an 18th or 19th century European farm piece. The shallow basin holds a few inches of water, enough to reflect the sky but not enough to drown a bird.

It works as a low reflecting pool, as the catchment for a gentle sheer-descent water blade, or beneath a low copper spout as a trickle fountain in a courtyard. Set on random Versailles paving the uneven dips along its base show; against raw steel or glass the lichen glows. A stone trough this shallow also makes a fine alpine planter. This stone vessel has sold, but low wide troughs come through often; ask and we will send photographs of what is current.