Chateau Jardinière

A 19th-century French jardinière in cast iron, the kind that lived on the terraces and orangeries of French châteaux through the late 1800s. The dealer we got this from collects them piece by piece out of châteaux across central France, and no two ever come the same. The body is sand-cast in the Rococo Revival style with scrolling acanthus and shell crests across every panel, the whole thing standing on four small scrolling feet. The original chalky white paint has worn down to the dark cast underneath, the way old garden iron does after enough seasons outside. Sylvie fills it with a long handful of garden roses, or sets it on a kitchen counter planted with rosemary.