Auctioned in Dublin (provenance unknown).


Sold in the James Adam Saleroom, Dublin on Wednesday, May 28th 2003 for €10,000 approximately:

"Lot 30: A Celtic sandstone Corbal Sheelagh-Na-Gig totem/fertility figure, of stylized form, 26 x 18 x 18 cm (10.25 x 7.25 x 7.25'')
Provenance: Collection Lord McAlpine of West Green; Rupert Wace Ancient Art Ltd, London.
Exhibited: Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, May-August 1987, #8
Estimated Price: €8000 - 12000"

Noted by Barbara Freitag (2005) page 155, catalogue number 156, this carving is most unlikely to be of Irish origin. Exhibitionist Irish Romanesque corbels are extremely rare, and the style of the carving seems to me to be southern English, influenced by Aquitanian sculptors.