A pair late 17th / early 18th century polychrome painted pine Dummy Boards

Object Description

Each made from a single piece of wood with a ring for hanging. The cut out painted figures depict a lady and her suitor. Both dressed in 17th century attire, he serenading her with a lute.

Object Literature

Dummy boards or silent companions were from the early 17th century used a s form of house decoration. Generally made by professional sign-painters have their origins in the ‘trompel’oeil’ or illusionistic style as painted by Dutch artists in the early 17th century. Flat cut out figures painted and shaped in outline to resemble figures of human and animal life were placed in corners and on stairways to surprise visitors or in front of empty fireplaces in the summer.

Object Condition

Some minor restoration otherwise original condtion

Object Details