Foliate Grotesques

These stoneware grotesques in the style of the green man or foliate heads found in many churches across England, are unique and suitable to be hung in the garden or inside your home to ward off evil spirits or unwanted visitors. (There’s a hole in the back for a nail.)

In architecture, a grotesque (/ɡroʊˈtɛsk/) is a fantastic or mythical figure carved from stone and fixed to the walls or roof of a building. Grotesques often depict whimsical, mythical creatures in dramatic or humorous ways. They have historically been a key element of architecture in many periods including the Renaissance and Medieval periods and have stylistically developed in conjunction with these times. Although grotesques typically depict a wide range of subjects, they are often hybrids of different mythical, human, and animalistic features.

The Green Man is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, represented in the cycle of growth each spring. It is most commonly depicted as a sculpture or other representation of a face surrounded by, or made from, leaves. The Green Man motif has many variations, and could be said to stem from architectural detailing in churches and broadly Christian in origin or have its roots (ahem) in folkloric interpretations of the ‘Jack in the Green’ character which is more commonly associated with Green Men pubs.

1 £15 small green man, tongue poking out
2 £15 small green man without tongue
3 £20 medium green man, tongue poking out
4 £30 large green man, tongue poking out
5 £15 small green man, without tongue

Large approx 12-15cm
Medium approx 8-10cm
Small approx 6-7cm