I carved the Sun God from a 57 pound block of polyphant stone.  Parts of the Sun God's face are painted with gold leaf.  The back of the carving is left untouched to show the varied colours of the stone in its natural state.

The Sun God measures  about 16 inches high, 12 inches wide and 5.5 inches deep, and weighs about 40 pounds.

Polyphant stone is a type of Elvan, a name used in Cornwall and Devon for native varieties of quartz-porphyry.  Most of the Elvan quarries are now disused.

Greenstone is another name for this type of stone.  It is basically a greenish-grey in colour, but is often flecked with other unpredictable colours from many minerals and other impurities found in the stone.  Polyphant was often used for parts of buildings such as doorways so they could be finely carved. 

Around 400 prehistoric stone axes, made from greenstone, have been found all over Britain, which from petrological analysis appear to come from west Cornwall.  Although the quarry has not been identified, it has been suggested that the Gear, a rock now submerged half a mile from the shore at Penzance, may be the site.

The name Polyphant means 'Frog Pool' in Cornish.

Yvonne Jerrold

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