This East Yorkshire-made rocking horse is claimed to be the biggest in the world. The 16ft long 12ft high wooden steed has been lovingly carved by Anthony Dew, master rocking horse-maker and founder of The Rocking Horse Shop in Fangfoss.

It was commissioned for £5,000 by artist by Marcia Farquhar for the Biennial 2010 art competition at the National Trust-owned Tatton Park in Cheshire.

Ms Farquhar, who works in sculpture and performance, wants to display the giant gee-gee in the magnificent grounds of the stately home.

She said: “The idea developed after seeing a little black rocking horse under a Christmas tree on a site visit to Tatton Park. While I had my mind set on doing something with the grounds and surrounds, it was the horse in the house which caught my eye.”

She titled the work The Horse Is A Noble Animal, but the shop’s managing director, Jane Cook, has called it Big Bertie, after a thoroughbred stallion she keeps at nearby stables.

Mr Dew, who took four months to carve the beast from laminated marine plywood, said the project was “the biggest we’ve undertaken”. He said: “It is considerably larger than life size and when completed it will be, as far as we know, the largest hand carved rocking horse in the world.”