Makrana Marble Architectural Arcade Fragment, 12in

A palace interior found inside the block

Five faces of this 12-inch block are left exactly as they came off the quarry — split, crystalline, unworked. The sixth is cut away to reveal a miniature arcade: three cusped arches carried on slender colonettes, receding into shadow, with a pierced jali screen filling the deepest bay. Nothing about the outside prepares you for the inside, and that is the whole idea of the piece. It reads less like an ornament and more like a fragment of a Rajasthani palace that was quarried out with the architecture still in it.

Two finishes on one stone

The block is Makrana white marble, the warm-white stone from the quarries north of Jodhpur that faces the Taj Mahal. It carries the contrast well because it breaks with a bright sugary crystal face and polishes to a soft satin. The raw exterior is left with its natural split texture; the arcade inside is worked to a soft polish, so light travels differently across the two zones and the edge where they meet stays sharp.

Where it sits

At 12 inches tall it holds a console table, a mantel or a broad bookshelf on its own without crowding anything else. It has a clear front, so it works pushed back against a wall, and it needs a light source somewhere to one side — the arcade only opens up when a shadow forms inside it. It is a piece to look at rather than to use.

Making yours

The depth of the arcade, the number of arches and the size of the block are all open. It is carved for you by the master sculptors we work with in Jaipur, who cut the architecture first and dress the outer faces last so the split texture stays honest. Allow four to eight weeks, depending on how deep the bays run and whether the jali is pierced right through.