LOT 0311

Large Medieval Stone Church Gargoyles

ENGLAND, 15TH CENTURY A.D.

46 1/2 - 47 3/4 in. (400 kg total, 118 -121.5 cm).

Matched pair of carved stone corbels, each a mythical beast with a rounded body, bat-like wings folded behind the back, long arched neck and reptilian head with gaping mouth; mounted on an integral square-section base with stepped rear face; socket to forward face with bronze insert; some surface accretions. [2]

Private collection, UK.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13385-259013.

Cf. Trubshaw, B., Good Gargoyle Guide. Medieval Carvings in Leicestershire and Rutland, 2025, pp.43,77, for similar figures.

From the Romanesque era onwards, images of demons, often carved on the external sides of cathedrals and churches, were strongly linked to the fantastical and monstrous creatures of ancient myth and legend. For theologians, supernatural creatures which could not otherwise be explained were not of God and therefore had to be demonic: their incorporation in the ecclesiastic structures showed that their malevolent powers could be kept under control only through the protection of the church. This origin of Christian demons is likely to have influenced the visual representation in medieval culture as hybrid and monstrous, especially given the increased interest in Greek works from the twelfth century onwards in the West.