The living ‘hand and apple’ sculpture at Cotehele , a National Trust property in Cornwall, is a creation of the artist Brendon Murless.
It is hoped that the artist's living 'hand and apple' sculpture will encourage visitors to explore the orchard at Cotehele, which contains fruit trees only found in the Tamar Valley - an area famed for its temperate climate and rich market garden history.
The National Trust makes traditional apple juice from the mature orchard at Cotehele.
In 2007, Trust staff and volunteers extended this orchard and planted a further 120 fruit trees – known as the Mother Orchard.
The Mother Orchard was planted with trees saved by a local couple Mary Martin and James Evans who have gathered as many as 250 varieties in their spare time and have spent the last 25 years saving threatened varieties of apple, cherry and pear in the Tamar Valley.
Brendon Murless explains his inspiration for the sculpture, "The Mother Orchard suggests a relationship with Mother Nature and this feminine figure is something repeated in history and mythology – from Eve and the forbidden fruit, to Greek mythology and 'The Judgment of Paris".
