Chinese Rough-Hewn Trough, On stand

Long, low and square-shouldered, like a very patient piece of road.

A rough-hewn trough in stone, from Shandong Province, China, dating to the 18th century or earlier. Chinese farmers relied on troughs like this to water and feed animals, and a stone one could serve for generations without much complaint. Upright chisel lines fill the long front, with a neat herringbone border running along the bottom and up the end. A round hole, stopped with something dark, sits low near one corner. Forty inches wide and only 12 high.

It has clearly never felt the need to be anything else.