Chinese Double Lotus Base

A short drum of a pedestal, its top plain and its sides wrapped in carved petals.

This double lotus base is from China. It is marble. Marble is a metamorphic rock formed from limestone, and its fine grain makes it suitable for carving and polishing into smooth surfaces. Squat round form with a flat top, then a band of overlapping rounded petals above a narrow waist and a lower tier of petals. Cream-white surface with yellow-brown staining in the crevices and some grey flecks. It is 4 inches high and 5.5 in diameter.

Humble in size, ambitious in ornament.