Antique French Limestone Trough

A stout antique French limestone trough, compact in footprint but tall for its size. The outside is heavily pitted and coated in dark charcoal and mossy green, the colors a block takes on after a long time in a damp yard. At the rim the stone changes to a pale beige and chalky white interior that looks almost new by comparison. A single round drainage hole has been cut low in the front face.

It measures 40 inches wide, 23 inches deep and 29 inches high. The height is the useful thing here: the rim comes to a comfortable working height, so it can be used as a sink without bending double. It is a French farm piece, 18th or 19th century by type, with the drainage hole ready for a fitting.

Under a wall-mounted copper spout it takes a strong flow; sunk partly into a courtyard floor it becomes the catchment for a small bubbling fountain; beside a potting shed it is an open-air wash sink. A stone trough this dark looks well on pale granite gravel, with slender grasses around it. This limestone trough has sold. We usually have small troughs of this kind in the yard; ask and we will send what is current.