Casgliadau Arlein

Crude rendering of a Mother Goddess, much weathered, and there is some damage to the top right-hand corner of the chair. The Mother Goddess is shown seated on a high-backed chair, with shaped arm-rests and a box-like seat. The back of the chair tapers upwards from the arms to just above the top of the head. On the whole, the right-hand side is finished to a higher standard, and the arm-rest on the right is more clearly shown than that on the left where it is indicated in part by a simple groove. The carving of the figure is very simple, and no clothing is indicated apart from what appears to be a hood that fits tightly around the head, with a raised edge framing the face, and sides brought together to meet underneath the chin. Her large face is pear-shaped, with round eyes outlined by simple grooves, a long wedge-shaped nose, and a mouth marked by a small incision. The ears are indicated as slight hollows close to the front of the head in advance of the hood. The rest of her body and limbs are not in proportion, with a square trunk and skinny legs and arms. She is shown with her hands resting on her lap, and holding a round fruit, a symbol of fertility, in her left hand; and an upright fir-tree, an emblem of eternity, worked partly in relief and partly by engraved lines, in her right hand. The back of the sculpture is left plain.