Indian Hand Carved Jali Work Mantle Ledge

Scrolling vines run the full length of this narrow pale bar.

This hand carved sandstone jali work mantle ledge is from Rajasthan, India, and dates to the 18th century. A mantle ledge is the shelf above a fireplace, a place long used to display small objects, and a carved stone one adds pattern as well as a surface. Slender rectangular block carved with a continuous frieze of looping spirals and small dotted fields, edged by a plain border. The surface is pale buff with faint reddish traces, worn smooth on the raised areas and slightly chipped at the corners. It is 51.5 inches wide, 4 deep and 8 high.

Endless curlicues, and not one of them lost its place.