Gilgal Sphinx

"The Gilgal Sphinx"

We have all seen photos of the noseless “Sphinx” of Giza, Egypt, one of the oldest monolithic statues in the world and thought to have been created in the image of the Pharoah Khafre around 4,500 years ago. Well what if I told you there is an American  Sphinx and it was built around 1950 in Salt Lake City, Utah?! Crazy, right??

The Gilgal Sphinx is the creation of visionary artist Thomas B. Childs, a stone mason and LDS bishop, who created a sculpture garden behind his home in Salt Lake city between 1945 band 1963. The garden contains 70 wonderfully weird sculptures but the 

pièce de résistance is the Sphinx which bears the likeness of Joseph Smith, the prophet and founder of the Mormon Church. Childs hand picked and carved the huge block of granite for the monument but enlisted the aid of sculptor Maurice Edmund Brooks to carve the face. So now you don’t have to go all the way to Egypt to see a real Sphinx and, besides, the one in Gilgal Sculpture Garden still has its nose.

“The Gilgal Sphinx” was created using a vintage pair of wood bookends as the body, and a hand carved wood head carved by an unknown artist. An antique tricycle deck and Tramp Art appliqués finish the sculpture which is supported on antique brass furniture rollers.