The Last Boar of Bradford

The Last Boar of Bradford is a project based on a West Yorkshire folktale. During research at the Todmorden Folklore Library, I became inspired to bring the tale to life through a series of textile and ceramic works, but subvert the story to focus on the boar, rather than the male protagonist.

The legend dates back to the 1300s when it was said that the lands and medieval hunting forests around Bradford, and residents were terrorised by a ferocious wild boar. A wealthy landowner offered a reward of land for anyone who would kill the animal. A local peasant killed the boar, but discovered it to be too heavy for him to carry on foot. He cut out the tongue and went on to travel onwards to claim his reward. In the meantime, another traveller found the dead animal. Seeing it as an opportunity, he loaded it onto his horse, and went on to claim the reward for himself before anyone else. The story concludes with the rightful person finally claiming the reward, when the travelling man could not explain how the tongue was missing, but is an interesting story on class, society and power.

My project focuses on bringing the voice of the animal to life through sculpture, to make the boar more tangible. A series of ceramic pieces, including a decorative ceramic bowl depict the moments before the hunt, using the inner and outer parts of the bowl as a physical divide between the boar and its soon to be dead. I also produced a series of textiles, used to upholster a Gout stool. The work depicts the hunt itself and was purposely chosen as a nod to Henry VIII. He was one of the last monarchs of England who hunted wild boar to extinction, and he suffered from gout as a result of his high-fat meals which included boar.

The final work in the project series is a large wall hanging that depicts the boar's death, presenting it almost mystical as the grand finale of what was a grande finale of what was believed to be not just the last boar of Bradford but also of England.