Reclining Stag

The Reclining Stag in our Garden Statues collection was inspired by a statue of a stag displayed at Bowood House in Wiltshire. It came from a collection of much-admired animal sculptures by the German artist Philipp Konrad Moritz Geiss (1805-1875) for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Geiss himself was influenced by his fellow German, the neoclassical sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch (1775-1857), founder of the Berlin school of sculpture.

Acquired by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, the statue has been one of the most recognisable features of the estate since it arrived there in 1852.

With his Reclining Stag, artist Adam Williams has captured the noble bearing of the creature that originally inspired him while adding a certain ruggedness indicating that this truly is a great beast of the forest. The detailing of its great mane, contrasted with the smoothness of its back and the height of its antlers give it enduring visual appeal.

This is one of Adam’s most popular pieces, and he has even installed one example on a clifftop – a creature peaceful in repose, gazing out across its domain. In heraldry, the stag represents wisdom and harmony, while in folklore it harks back to Hern the Hunter and Cernunnos the Horned God, connecting this piece with the spirits of the Britain’s ancient woodlands.

Our Reclining Stag statues are available in pairs, or as individual left (sinister) and right (dexter) variants.