A Rare Medieval Period Carved Stone Grotesque Holding a Coconut c.1300-1400

Origin: English
Period: Medieval/Renaissance
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1300-1400
Height: 10”
Width: 18”
Depth: 23.5” (all at extremities)

The large and wonderfully evocative medieval period stone grotesque, in complete condition and at two feet deep, once part of a cathedral or church exterior, the grotesque’s head fashioned in the typical medieval manner, its mouth open baring its teeth and clutching a coconut, the beast with large talons and tail, atop a cornerstone and surviving from medieval period England.

In one piece the carving (sandstone or limestone) shows commensurate weathering with age through direct exposure of the elements with no chips or cracks other than very minor losses to the ear tips. Please view the photographs for a visual reference. It does sit well either vertically or as intended without support needed.

Medieval England was unexpectedly full of coconuts. Following ancient practices, the English used coconut milk, meat, and oil medicinally. By the thirteenth century English imported coconuts from the Venetians and once the medicine was extracted, craftsmen transformed the leftover coconut shells into goblets harnessed in precious metals modelled after traditional mazers. There are documents as far back as the 1200s referring to coconuts, and English woodworkers made cups out of coconut shells in this period. English traders picked up coconuts, usually from Venetians. They, in turn, picked them up from Alexandria, who obtained them from coconut producing lands. Europeans primarily thought of coconuts as medicine, not as a great food to pair with chocolate, and not as a dairy-free milk alternative. Medieval people did not think of coconuts as coconuts: that word had Portuguese roots and starts showing up past the medieval period, in the 15th and 16th Centuries. They would have called it the Nut of India, or the Great Nut.

In architecture, a grotesque is a fantastic or mythical figure carved from stone and fixed to the walls or roof of a building. Grotesques often depict whimsical, mythical creatures in dramatic or humorous ways. They have historically been a key element of architecture in many periods including the Renaissance and Medieval periods and have stylistically developed in conjunction with these times. Although grotesques typically depict a wide range of subjects, they are often hybrids of different mythical, human, and animalistic features. They commonly exist on high ledges and rooftops and are frequently positioned out of view from common areas. 

Prominent examples of preserved grotesques exist on buildings such as the Florence Cathedral and Notre-Dame de Paris. Even after their establishment as a key feature of early medieval architecture they continued to be based in religious circumstances even up until the Renaissance period almost 500 years later. Even in these early examples of grotesques in architecture there are clear mythological influences, and their whimsical style was established early on. The presence of grotesques in the Medieval period was also marked by an increased interest to display personal character which quickly developed into the anthropomorphic style that has become a staple for the stone carvings.

The distinct style of medieval grotesques is considered by journalist Redgrave to be “the strange mixture of the sacred and the profane.”

A very early piece of ornamental stone carving and possibly one of medicinal connotations.