Chinese Stone Half Trough

Plain and broad, the kind of stone that never needed to raise its voice.

This half trough comes from Shandong Province, China, and dates to the early 17th century. It is stone. Chinese farmers and householders used carved stone troughs for water and animal feed, and the half-round shape generally let them stand against a wall or building. The curved face is dressed overall with fine vertical tooling, softened by long weathering to a pale sandy tone. The rim is thick and squared, and the interior shows the same chiseled texture. A shallow crack runs near the base at one end. It is 36.5 inches wide and 22 high.

It held water for a long time and seems content to keep doing so.