Granite: 7x8x4ft 12.00 tons. Location: Station Square, Milton Keynes. Sold.
Photo courtesy of Milton Keynes Council.
O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast
Carved in Creetown granite this sculpture celebrates one of Burns’ last poems written for Jessy Lewars who nursed him during his final illness. The sculpture shows a couple comforting each other in times of trouble. In Milton Keynes the local people call it “the cuddling couple.”
O wert thou in the cauld blast,
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I’d shelter thee, I’d shelter thee;
Or did misfortune’s bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
They bield should be my bosom.
To share it a’, to share it a’.
Robert Burns
A plaque of the poem in braille accompanies the work. Purchased by Commissions for the New Towns following a major exhibition of Rae’s work in the city from 1995-1999.
An expressive sculpture of a man on the ground pleading with a begging bowl. Carved in response to the famine in Ethiopia in 1994, the bowl fills with water when it rains and dries up when there is a drought.
Carved in silver-grey Creetown granite from the Solway Firth in Scotland, the sculpture depicts the monumental severed head of the biblical prophet. The scar on the cheek represents his pain. John the Baptist was purchased from the exhibition in Regent’s Park, London in 2002.
This monumental hand of Christ with the stigmata portrays the hand that suffered on the Cross. The theme of suffering not only features in many of Rae’s sculptures but also in his drawings of Inmates and Down and Outs. Rae donated this sculpture to St. John’s Church.
This sculpture of four monumental portrait heads stands as a memorial to the people of St.Kilda who became dispossessed when they could no longer survive on their remote island off the west coast of Scotland. The head of the elderly man was based on Rae’s grandfather.
Granite: 4x5x3ft 2.00 tons. Location: Almond Valley Heritage Centre, Livingston. Sold.
Sheep
Rae has made several animal drawings. This was his first animal sculpture, of which many more would follow.
The Sheep sculpture was exhibited at the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988 and afterwards auctioned by Christie’s and purchased by Livingston Development Corporation for the entrance to the Almond Valley Heritage Centre.
When Rae found this stone in Kemnay Quarry in Aberdeenshire, he knew straight away it would be an elephant. It is significant that the drill hole in the stone is where the tusk would have been, also that a pink striation in the stone runs down from the eye suggesting a tear.
This work is Rae’s direct response to the plight of the African elephant.
A craggy sculpture of a shepherd and his sheep. This work was exhibited at St. John’s Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh and at the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988. The sculpture has two levels of meaning – it could be an ordinary shepherd or The Good Shepherd. It is now appropriately sited in the fields of the Peak District where the sheep nestle and rub against it patinating the stone.
Granite: 5x4x3ft 2.00 tons. Location – The Falkirk Wheel. For Sale.
Mother and Child
Carved in a beautiful pink granite from Corrennie quarry in Aberdeenshire the stone is 460 million years old. This gentle work epitomises motherhood, the mother bent over her child like a protective shield. It is interesting to note that when it rains the baby’s head doesn’t get wet.
This sculpture has been on private loan for the past two years. It is once again available.
Ronald Rae at The Falkirk Wheel
To see more footage of Ronald Rae with his sculptures at The Falkirk Wheel go to the right margin of this page and under Latest News on Video, click Ronald Rae at his Falkirk Wheel Exhibition Part One, Two and Three.
Granite 9x4x4ft 9.00 tons. Location: Riverside Park, Glenrothes. Sold. Unveiled by HRH The Prince of Wales.
The Good Samaritan
This work was commissioned by Glenrothes Development Corporation to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the New Town. Rae based his sculpture on the King’s Cross tube disaster after seeing firemen carry the victims to safety. The sculpture symbolises the community spirit of the town.
Hand-carved granite sculptures in public and private collections
