Indian Pair of Table Bases with Gryphon Motif

Two gryphons, wings sweeping inward, doing the heavy lifting without complaint.

This pair of table bases with a gryphon motif comes from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, in carved marble. Marble table bases like this are made to carry a heavy slab in a grand room or garden, and the gryphon, part lion and part eagle, has long served as a symbol of guardianship and power. On the base shown, two of them stand back to back at the outer edges, faces turned out, with scaled breasts and clawed feet. Their wings curve into large spirals at the center. A braided knot and scrolling leaves fill the panel beneath. Thirty inches high and 26 wide.

Whatever goes on top had better be worthy of the staff.