Zoomorphic Stone Animal Head Water Spout. English, Probably 12th Century.

A Zoomorphic stone animal head water spout.

English, probably 12th century.

Measures 15.5 x 15 x 10cm.

Provenance; found in Oxford in the early 1970’s.

The present head is a type often characterised as 'Celtic-style' or simply 'Celtic'. Characteristically similar stone heads found in Britain tend to date from the Romano-British culture (1st century AD - 5th century AD) until around the late Middle Ages (c.1250 to 1500). These heads are a distinctive type of naive stone sculpture of which the carving tradition remained relatively unchanged for centuries. As simple stone carvings of the human head most defy any attempt to date or attribute an origin precisely. The sculpting of this stone head in the form of a water spout leads me to believe that it dates from a period following its Celtic origins and most likely dates to around the 12th century when figurative art was more commonly incorporated for functional purposes as well as decorative and imbuing spiritual power in architecture, when Celtic traditions remained in Britain although fading as the Christian faith grew.