Granite: 3x8x3ft. 2.00 tonnes. Sold. Location – Aberdeenshire.

Wild Boar

Rae was motivated to carve this sculpture having seen wild boars in the forests of Germany. Wild boars also roamed Britain in ancient times and are found incised on Pictish stones. The image of the Wild Boar in Celtic art symbolised hospitality and feasting as well as hunting. Rae worked on the sculpture during a very wet winter, literally slipping and sliding in the mud whilst carving it – and grunting – just like a wild boar! Perhaps this is why the sculpture is the very essence of a wild boar.

It is a well-loved sculpture – when on exhibition at Newby Hall, children left apple cores at its snout.