French Antique Limestone Trough

A French antique limestone trough, deep and compact, with a pale, chalky exterior and a dark patina inside the basin that makes the two read as different stones. The walls are thick and uneven, pitted from long exposure. Along the top rim on one side a smooth dip has been worked into the stone, breaking the solid profile and giving water a clear sloped path out of the chamber.

It measured 39 inches wide, 21 inches deep and 25 inches high, tall for its length, which gave the basin real depth. The notch in the rim was cut on purpose and long ago, and it is what made the piece useful as the middle tier of a fountain. Condition was as found, bleached outside, dark within.

Set beneath a steady wall spout, the deep chamber fills and then sheets over the notch into a lower pool, so the trough brings sound and movement into a courtyard, not just stone. Against dark metal fencing or glass the pale texture reads sharply. This limestone trough has sold. We usually have similar stone troughs in the yard or on the water; ask and we will send what is current.