In A Collection
Granite: 10x5x4ft 10.00 tons. Location: Aviva, Cherry Bank, Perth. Sold.
This monumental work was commissioned by General Accident for their new world headquarters in Perth in 1982, now owned by Aviva. Rae used the parable of the prodigal son to depict the company’s motto “I warn and I protect”. The composition for this work was influenced by one of Rae’s favourite paintings, Rembrandt’s
Return of the Prodigal Son.
Creetown Granite: 7x7x3ft 4.00 tons. Location: In private collection. Oxon. Sold.
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.
Granite: 7x8x4ft 12.00 tons. Location: Station Square, Milton Keynes. Sold.
Photo courtesy of Milton Keynes Council.
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.
Granite: 5x5x3ft 3.00 tons. Location: Private Collection. Aberdeenshire. Sold.
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: 4x4x4ft 2.00 tons. Location: St. John’s Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh. Gifted.
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.
Rae donated the sculpture to the Church.
Granite: 9x10x6ft 12.00 tons. Location: Private Collection. Oxon. Sold.
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.
Granite: 3x4x3ft 1.00 tons. Location: St. John’s Church,Princes Street, Edinburgh. Gifted.
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.
Granite: 7x3x3ft 3.00 tons. Location: Carsluith, Wigtownshire. Sold
Lazarus was carved out of an ancient standing stone linking Celtic and Christian beliefs.
Granite: 4x5x3ft 2.00 tons. Location: Almond Valley Heritage Centre, Livingston. Sold.
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.
Granite: 2x4x3ft 1 tonne. Location: Wetherspoon’s Granite City Restaurant, Aberdeen Airport. Sold.
Carved from a boulder of Kemnay silver-grey granite, Rae wanted this sculpture to look as if it had been carved by the wind giving it a primeaval quality.
It is an appropriate subject for the restaurant as wild boar often featured on Pictish and Celtic stones being a symbol of hospitality and feasting. The sculpture is sited in the new beer garden where it is a talking point for visitors.