Stiffleaf's photos with the keyword: sheela na gig

c12 sheela na gig , now in the tower museum, once on the west side of the tower

oh, I do like a good sheela! this is a type 3a from the north central area of ireland,cloran, near killua in westmeath. she came to the museum with the george witt collection in 1865, possibly from richard payne knight, definately from a c19 collection in the romantic c18/19 killua castle, and then was lost until 1972, and this is a big figure , about two foot high. it seems mid 12 century, and has a neatly cut void in the back. this may be from a later reuse, reversed to hide it or support a screen. killua has an c18/19 castle, and a folly in a mediaeval churchyard, but no extant c12 buildings there or in cloran nearby

this sheela is from cloran, a type 3a from the north central area of ireland, near killua in westmeath. she came to the museum with the george witt collection in 1865, possibly from richard payne knight, and then was lost until 1972, and this is a big figure , about two foot high. it seems mid 12 century, and has a neatly cut void in the back. this may be from a later reuse, when reversed to hide it or support a screen. killua has an c18/19 castle, and a folly in a mediaeval churchyard, but no extant c12 buildings, nor does cloran.

this figure has been published under the name of chloran, but cloran is really the townland in westmeath, ireland where she was found, before going into the collection of sir ben chapman at the romantic folly castle of killua nearby. she was given to the british museum in 1865, lost for 90 years, and is now finally on show. mid c12, I guess

this is the back of the type 3a from the north central area of ireland, killua in westmeath. she came to the museum with the george witt collection in 1865, possibly from richard payne knight, then was lost until 1972. this is a big figure , about two foot high. it seems mid 12 century, and has a neatly cut void in the back. this may be from a later reuse, reversed to hide it or use it to support a screen. the sheela came from cloran, going to a collection in killua castle .there are no extant c12 buildings either in killua nor nearby cloran.

If c17 and not a reuse then possibly the only sheela created for apotropaic reasons,originally placed over the doorway of the stables, now removed inside and difficult to even spot behind the timber struts unless you are looking for her. head in the middle, legs akimbo and hands pulling her vulva open.

This sheela resides on her side in a chancel window reveal. Most sheelas date from the mid C12th and appear from context to be warnings against lechery, and are not pagan idols