Granite: 2x4x3ft 1 tonne. Location: Wetherspoon’s Granite City Restaurant, Aberdeen Airport. Sold.

Baby Boar

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.

Granite: 5x8x7ft 7.00 tons. Location: Island of Iona. Gifted.

Fallen Christ

Carved in pink and grey Kemnay granite this powerful work portrays the Fallen Christ on the road to Calvary with the burden of the world on his back. His arm becomes the vertical part of the cross with the heavy beam on which are carved the letters I.N.R.I. – Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

This sculpture is appropriately sited outside the MacLeod Centre on Iona, the island of pilgrimage on the west coast of Scotland where St. Columba landed from Ireland in AD563.

The sculpture is dedicated to the memory of Jim Hughes who was an active member of the Iona Community and friend of the sculptor. Margaret, Jim’s wife who features in the video below sadly died last year her ashes being scattered round the sculpture as Jim’s had been too.

To see a short video about this sculpture go to Latest News on Video at the right hand column of this page and click on Ronald Rae visits his Fallen Christ sculpture on Iona.

The Fallen Christ has inspired many poems – Child’s Play by one of Mull’s leading poets Jan Sutch Pickard beautifully describes a day in the life of the sculpture.

Child’s Play

Sun burnishes the granite,
a blessing on the stone
making it warm as human skin
but still as hard as bone.

Sculpture of the Fallen Christ
like an erratic boulder:
a child at play has clambered up
to perch upon his shoulder

She rides upon the solid rock
joyfully, safely there:
rough stone supports her hands and feet,
the wind plays with her hair.

I see a place of refuge
for a troubled little girl:
God’s back being broad enough to bear
the weight of all the world.

Jan Sutch Pickard – Wild Goose Publications

Granite: 5x6x3ft 3.00 tons. Location: Rozelle Park, Ayr. Sold.

Pieta

One of five sculptures at Rozelle Park portraying the Tragic Sacrifice of Christ. This more abstract work shows the body and limbs of Christ as he taken down from the cross. This project was sponsored by Kyle and Carrick District Council. The granite stone came from the Old Harbour wall in Ayr that was being demolished – recycling par excellence!

To see a short video about this sculpture go to Latest News on Video on the right hand column of this page and click on Ronald Rae visits his earliest sculptures at Rozelle Park Ayr.

Granite: 11x6x5ft 15.00 tons. Location: Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Gifted.

Abraham

A spiritual work of Abraham looking heavenwards when God told him to stay his hand from sacrificing his son. This fine-grained granite was shipped over from the Gran-Quartz quarry in Georgia USA. Rae carved the sculpture in the hospital grounds much to the interest of the patients and staff. On completion he donated it to the hospital.

Granite: 10x5x4ft 10.00 tons. Location: Aviva, Cherry Bank, Perth. Sold.

Return of the Prodigal.

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.

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.

Granite: 4x4x4ft 2.00 tons. Location: St. John’s Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh. Gifted.

Famine

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: 3x4x3ft 1.00 tons. Location: St. John’s Church,Princes Street, Edinburgh. Gifted.

Mark of the Nail

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: 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.

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.