A pair of Irish elk horns or giant deer antlers circa 10,500 B.C. to 8000 B.C.

The Giant deer ( or 'Irish Elk') originated during the Pleistocene Period of the Great Ice Age and is thought to have initially colonised Siberia before migrating towards the west in response to the deteriorating climate. Although the Elk inhabited a vast expanse of central Europe and Asia, the largest concentration of its remains have been found mainly in the marl underlying bogland of Ireland giving rise to the popular nomenclature of this species. The high calcium carbonate content of the marl is conducive to the perservation of bones and examples of these ancient antler specimens have been discovered in Counties Wayerford, Clare and Cork, many of them in caves. Many have featured in Irish banqueting halls following a centuries old tradition, particularly during the 19th century when it was fashionable for such antiquarian relics to be displayed in baronial halls. An instance of this is recorded in an 1850`s interior drawing of the new manor at  Adare, Co. Limerick ( see J. Cornforth, English Interiors, 1790-1848, London,1978, fig.51).

Related elk antlers include a pair which were presented to Sir Robert Peel by the people of Ireland, sold by The Earl Peel, Christie`s London, 6 April 2000, lot 210, another pair sold originally belonging to the Cobbe family of Newbridge, Co. Dublin, sold anonymously in the same rooms 10 April 2003, lot 45. For further comparison see  Sotheby`s London, 8 June 2005, lots 78 and 79 . 

The present antlers were reputedly discovered about two hundred years ago in a bog on the west side of Ireland, near Castlebar, Co. Mayo.