Indian Lotus-Form Vessel with Mask Motif on Pedestal

A bearded stranger in the garden, unmoved by the weather and quite willing to wait.

This lotus-form vessel with a mask motif on a pedestal comes from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, and is contemporary work in marble. Jaipur has long been known for marble carvers, who make garden urns like this for courtyards and terraces, to hold water or plants. The rim rolls outward in thick overlapping petals, with a second row beneath. On the side, a face framed in leaves looks straight ahead, wearing a curled mustache and a waved beard. A band of beads sits above a fluted pedestal on a square plinth. Twenty-nine inches high and 24 in diameter.

Fill it with water, or with flowers. He will not comment.