Originating in mid-19th century Germany, Garden Gnomes are one of those garden ornaments that people either love or hate.
Based on local myth and designed both for ornamentation and for the protection of gardens from evil spirits, particularly at night, the Garden Gnome may have had its heyday and may have been banned from Chelsea, but still they colourfully grace people’s gardens the world over.
Typically brightly painted and made of terracotta, the Garden Gnome may originally have been based on the Greco-Roman god Priapus, whose statue was typically found in ancient gardens, but it is to German Philip Griebel that we owe the Garden Gnome we know and love (or hate) today!