Chinese Stone Half Trough

Two textures, one stone, and a line drawn neatly between them.

This half trough comes from Shandong Province, China, and dates to the early 17th century. It is stone. Half troughs were carved in rural China to hold water or feed, and were often set flat against a wall or courtyard edge. The upper band of the curved front is tooled in a tight herringbone, while the lower half is cut in deep vertical grooves, the two divided by a crisp horizontal line. The stone runs from warm tan to russet, with a few gray patches near the rim. It is 32.5 inches wide and 24 high.

Herringbone above, pinstripe below. Quite dressed up for a trough.