Green Men and Dragon Grotesques in Northern California

I was in downtown Sacramento visiting my brother and noticed these grotesques (gargoyles) on a hotel.

Green Men Grotesques on Downtown Sacramento Building

I only had a camera phone with me so could not get as good as a picture as I wished — but here is one. The green man is a corbel under the balcony, the dragons are the decorations in  the corners of the windows.

Green Men on a Downtown Sacramento Building

Here is another picture of the same building.

If one is observant one will see more gargoyles (or more likely grotesques) than one would imagine. While none of them will probably look like the famous gargoyles of Notre Dame Cathedral, they are special and fun to spot!

Architectural Lion Element

Strolled past these lion pairs last night. They are — my best guess — an architectural element. 

Architectural Lion

I am not exactly sure what they are architecturally speaking. They are not really columns, they are not exactly supporting a column...

They are flanking a residence on a very steep street on a hill just above San Francisco's Chinatown.

Two New Skulls have Hit GargoyleStore.com!

gargoylestore.com has just received two new skulls!

'Dr. Skully' Skulls

Here is the finished picture that I used for the website.

This is a fairly accurate model of a skull. The large version has separate molded teeth, the mandible is hinged to the cranium, and is hollow. The smaller version has less details — but both are really nice.

It's always a challenge getting a good photograph. Since a visitor to the website can't pick up, examine and such — the picture's job is a tough one. The picture needs to communicate to the view all the details about the object, the color, size, textures. It's lucky that a 'picture is worth a thousand words,' as one needs all one thousand words for this to work best.

I always want something in the photos to give scale — here I have the skulls on a table with a ruler and a hemostat as props. A window off to the left gives natural light, and a table lamp gives warm light from above.

I pasted in a photo of the inside and taken apart views as I limited the website to one photograph.

Dr. Skully Skulls Disassembled 

Here is one of the shots I took of the skulls disassembled. I needed to show how these skulls 'work' and at this point I was undecided if I was going to stick with the one photograph or not. 

This shows the skulls 'open' and the spring that holds the mandible to the cranium. The jaws are able to be opened and closed — just like the real thing. The skull 'cap' on the big skull is held in place with rods and magnets, the small guy just has the rods.

Dr. Skull Disassembled 

Here is the disassembled shot that I decided to use. A little closer, and a bit more clear.

Dr. Skully Skulls

This is the picture that I used, before I pasted the smaller photo on as an insert.

Little Freddie Gargoyle

Today I added a new gargoyle to gargoylestore.com. Here is a picture of him:

Little Freddie Gargoyle

I am calling this guy Little Freddie. This gargoyle is a pretty much a scale model of a gargoyle that would be mounted on a building.

The gargoyle pictured attached to the wall shows the channel that is carved into the gargoyle. This is what takes the runoff water away from the building, so that the water does not run down the building's wall and erode the mortar from between the stones. The water would flow down this channel, out the open mouth, and fall to the street below.

Little Freddie Gargoyle Replica

Here is one of the outtakes from my Little Freddie Gargoyle photo shoot. I pretty much like both of these photos — I decided to use the one that has the gargoyle on the table that is facing to the right.

Little Freddie is just shy of six inches tall, appropriate for indoor or outdoor display, and is priced at $29.

This is an excellent piece! The sculpting is beautiful, the finish is excellent — all around a beautiful gargoyle!

Here's a New Piece: Small Gargoyle Head!

We just received a new piece, Small Gargoyle Head. 

Small Gargoyle Head

This little guy is 3 1/4" wide, 3 1/2" tall, and has a wire hanger that allows him to hang flush to the wall.

Small Gargoyle Head

This gargoyle is made of gypsum cement — which makes this little gargoyle suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

Small Gargoyle Head

I like this photograph best.

Anyhew, look for this guy on the website: gargoylestore.com

Gryphons, Griffins, Griffons

Griffins, Gryphons, Griffons

Celtic Gryphon from The Stone Griffin

Gryphons are mythological beasts commonly depicted as having the head, forelegs and wings of an eagle, and the hindquarters, tail and occasionally ears of a lion.

Guardian Griffin from The Stone Griffin

They have been known for centuries as symbols of strength and vigilance, and have been called "The Hounds of Zeus."

In some mythologies, they represent the wealth of the sun. Or they are said to have hordes of fabulous treasure, which they guard endlessly.

Small Griffin (and Lion) Plaque from The Stone Griffin

There are several different accepted spellings—with the three most common being gryphon, griffin and griffon. 

We have a nice selection of griffins at The Stone Griffin, which you can see by clicking HERE.

Long Retired Gargoyle Statues

Over the many years of selling gargoyle statues I have seen many a nice gargoyle go to the big gothic cathedral in the sky.

Retired Gargoyle 'Max'

First up is Max. I was helping a buyer, carrying this guy to his car. The guy had a dog in car barking at me — the owner said "Shut up Max!" I thought the name Max was perfect for this guy, so he became Max.

Max — and other gargoyles — were made by a business in Oklahoma. The business changed hands and everything went into a downward spiral.

13th Century Notre Dame Gargoyle

This cute guy is a model of a gargoyle dating from the Notre Dame Cathedral during the 13th century. Notre Dame was restored in the mid-1800s — and many of the gargoyles we associate with the cathedral date from that restoration.

Dagmar Gargoyle

Sad to say I can't really remember the story on this guy! He was made by an artist on the east coast as I recall — that's about all I remember...

Golum Incense Holder

This is a picture of one of a line of incense holder gargoyles made by a husband/wife team up in Washington State. I liked them a lot, unfortunately they moved on, stopped making them.

Gargoyle

While writing this I can't recall the name of this guy — but I do remember two things. One, he is a favorite of mine, and two, the artist is still around! The artist seems to have lost interest in making any gargoyles, I have been expressing my desire for him to do so!

Skull Head Toilet Bowl Brush

This skull head toilet bowl brush has been retired. It was made by a big giant factory in China, and perhaps was retired as either it sold slowly, or simply to make room for new items.

The take-away lesson of this blog post is: if you see something you love you better think seriously of getting it, the continuing availability is not a given! 

Go to gargoylestore.com now by clicking HERE.

Burger King Gargoyle Toy

I was at an estate sale — looking for nothing — but found this little guy:

Burger King Gargoyle Toy

It is a little wind up toy that Burger King gave out. He is a gargoyle with wings, horns and a nice simulated stone finish.

Wind him up and he scoots across the table with his arms windmilling away.

I think I will keep him.

I think he will become my computer buddy.

Burger King Gargoyle Toy

Here he is hanging out on my computer.

New Green Man Added to the Website — Tiny Green Man Keystone Plaque

I have added a new green man sculpture to the website.

Tiny Green Man Keystone Plaque

Here is a picture of the little guy. This green man is made by one of our favorite artists! Excellent workmanship, nice details.

He is quite small as you can see in the photograph. There is a wire hoop so that the green man can be hung.

Another View of the Tiny Green Man Plaque

A green man is a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament on buildings. The Green Man motif has many variations, and is found in many cultures around the world. It is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring.

My website has a section of green men, so jump to the green man section of gargoylestore.com by clicking here.

The Many Faces of the Irving Gargoyle

The gargoyle that is usually called 'Irving' is a popular guy, and different artists have carved their own interpretation of Irving.

Irving Gargoyle 

The picture above is the 'original' Irving gargoyle. This is a photo of the bass relief decoration on a building at 81 Irving Place in Manhattan in New York City. This guy is the inspiration of the gargoyle  sculptures that are called 'Irving.'

Irving Gargoyle

This Irving is probably my favorite. He is cast in gypsum cement, and I think that the quality of the artist's work is excellent. Great details, with a great finish! I offer this guy in two different sizes — this size and a smaller guy.

Small Irving Gargoyle Sculpture

Here is the small version of the Irving gypsum gargoyle sculpture, note the key for size scale on this photograph, and the size cue on the larger guys above is the business card under one of the Irving gargoyle's foot.

Cast Stone Irving Gargoyle Sculpture

Another take on the Irving gargoyle. This little guy is made of cast stone with a green patina finish.

Irving Gargoyle

Let this version of the Irving gargoyle be my last picture on this blog. This guy is made of stone covered fiberglass, so they are rather light weight and good for indoor or outdoor display.

Visit my website gargoylestore.com to see all these guys and more!