By Don Reynolds
There is a wide range of patio and garden gargoyles that can be used to scare the neighbors and your visitors. Seriously, though, these gargoyles are truly fabulous in more ways than one, and any one of them would make a centerpiece for a patio or garden, or even a gallery or hallway.
What is a gargoyle? They are medieval sculptures, originally intended to run water off roofs and prevent it from running down the walls. When walls were made of stone and mortar, running water could eat the mortar away, so they are basically medieval drainpipes for cathedrals, castles and other significant buildings. Through the ages, as technology advanced, they were no longer needed as drains, but were still used for a number of purposes, one possibly being to scare people into coming to church. If they failed to pray they would be turned into a gargoyle, basically.
The idea of gargoyles has been used since the classical Greek era, but it was only in medieval times, around the middle of the first millennium AD, that they took on the grotesque shapes with which they are associated. They were not garden gargoyles then, and the various animals used had specific meanings, such as snakes representing the struggle between good and evil, but the grotesques are believed to be a warning to those who failed to attend church.
However, as the need for them to be used in plumbing died out, all grotesque figures (also termed ‘grotesques’) became known as gargoyles. Those that you can purchase take on all sorts of grotesque appearances. The animals are no longer referred to as gargoyles, just by the name of the animals they represent, only grotesque creatures now being given that name. Garden gargoyles can be of any shape or size, but they must look horrible!
For example, Talysus the Terrible is a statue with massive spiny wings, 37 inches high, and sitting on a ball on top of a plinth. Talysus is known as ‘The Guardian’ and could be placed in your entrance hallway to ward off evil visitors such as tax collectors and the like. Many representations of traditional gargoyles are also available, such as the Cathedral Gargoyle, which is statue that can sit on a wall or garden path. This has tall horns, muscular wings and spiny claws, sitting on its haunches ready to destroy anybody that comes within reach.
For something a bit different, artist Gary Chang, who is famous for his gargoyle designs, has come up with ‘Merciless’. This is a gargoyle with a wide open mouth, ready to gobble you up and is represented holding a glass globe that lights up with a 40 watt light bulb. It is of a traditional Gothic design although it would take a lot to beat Boden, two feet of menace with its spiny talons ready to grab any unwary passer-by.
Each of these gargoyles is a standing statue, but if you want something for a wall – inside or out – there are plenty of those around. You can have spitting cat with the yard long body of a lizard clambering up outside your wall, or a double-headed dragon ready to pounce down on you when you open your front door. Or maybe you prefer a gargoyle holding a candle to light your way as you fumble for your keys after a hard night on the town?
Whichever of these tickles your fancy you can be sure that it will look real, and will certainly get the neighbors and your visitors talking. But can gargoyles be used inside? Not traditionally certainly, simply because of its original use, unless you have a leak. However, there’s no reason why you can’t have a gargoyle holding up a small wall shelf, suitable for a small clock or maybe some reed diffusers sticking out of a small bottle giving a beautiful aroma to your home.
Perhaps the Gargoyle of Eastmore Cathedral, hanging round the spire of a gothic cathedral at the top of which sits a globe lighting up your room? At two feet tall, this is a substantial piece that will leave your visitors awestruck. That, too, is available online and your task is to find it.
There is a lot more than these, of course, and one harder to find is the Spitting Gargoyle, a copy of the one sitting on top of the Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Purchase this for home and you will have definite conversation piece, and if you learn its history your guests will be held spellbound as you explain to them that although it is one of the more famous of the Notre Dame gargoyles, it is not technically a gargoyle, because it doesn’t spit. It is in reality a ‘grotesque’. Nevertheless, the historians refer to it as a gargoyle, so why shouldn’t you?
However, back to the original topic of patio and garden gargoyles. Whether they are technically grotesques or gargoyles, you will be delighted with any of these mentioned above, and every one of them is available to purchase online if you know where to find them.
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