Silent Companion: Girl with Rattle (dummy board)
Flemish School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1620
Materials
Oil on canvas laid down on wood
Measurements
965 mm (38 in) (height)
Order this imageCollection
Castle Drogo, Devon
NT 902409
Caption
This wooden painted figure standing alone shows a girl holding a rattle and pear. It looks as if the figure has been cut from the canvas of a Flemish portrait about 1620, and mounted on ebonised wooden base. These type of pictures are not really paintings but form part of the furniture, called dummy boards or ‘silent companions’. They were usually found in entrance halls of houses, as greeters, or in front of fireplaces and acted as firescreens.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas laid down on wood, Silent Companion: Girl with Rattle, Flemish School, circa 1620 A dummy board figure of a child with a rattle, (Collectively known as 'Silent Companions') Probably cut from a portrait, Flemish, about 1620, canvas mounted on ebonised wooden base.
Provenance
This item forms part of the original Drewe family collection at Castle Drogo. It was transferred to the National Trust in 2008.
Marks and inscriptions
Makers and roles
Flemish School, artist