| Place | Oceania: Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Canberra |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | ART90769 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Measurement | Overall: 31.0 x 30.0 x 16.8 cm |
| Object type | Sculpture |
| Physical description | plaster reinforced with fibre, watercolour wash, pencil grid marks |
| Maker |
Bowles, Leslie Ewers, Raymond Boultwood |
| Place made | Australia: Victoria, Melbourne |
| Date made | c. 1939 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Frogmouth owl gargoyle
Description
This plaster model for a gargoyle depicts the head of a frogmouth owl. The plaster model was created in the studio of William Leslie Bowles in Melbourne with the assistance of sculptor, Ray Ewers. In 1940 and 1941 the plaster cast was used as the template for a stonemason to carve an in-situ sandstone gargoyle in the cloisters of the Commemorative Courtyard of the Australian War Memorial.
The Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is an Australian species of frogmouth, a type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often mistaken to be an owl. Many Australians refer to the Tawny Frogmouth by the colloquial names of "Mopoke" or "Morepork".