Young Woman Peeling Apples thumbnail 1
Young Woman Peeling Apples thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Young Woman Peeling Apples

Dummy Board
ca. 1690 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Dummy boards are life-size, flat, wooden figures painted and shaped in outline to resemble figures of servants, soldiers, children, and animals. The taste for using illusionistic painted figures as a form of house decoration probably originated in the trompe l’oeil, or life-like interior scenes painted by Dutch artists in the early 17th century. Dummy boards continued to be produced into the 19th century. They were placed in corners and on stairways to surprise visitors, or in front of empty fireplaces in the summer. Most were made by professional sign-painters, who also produced the hanging street signs prevalent until the late 18th century.

Young women peeling apples were a popular theme for dummy boards.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleYoung Woman Peeling Apples (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Oil on wood
Brief description
Dummy board, oil on wood panel, young woman peeling apples, British ca. 1690
Physical description
Life-size cut-out painting of a seated young woman peeling apples into her apron on her lap. She is wearing a brown dress with low bodice laced in front and showing a linen frill. She has linen cuffs and apron and wears a lace cap in her hair which is dressed high.
Dimensions
  • Height: 124.5cm
  • Width: 70cm
  • Board depth: 1.5cm
  • Batten depth: 3.5cm
Style
Credit line
Given by R. W. Symonds
Object history
Given by R .W. Symonds, furniture historian and writer
Historical context
Figures peeling apples were a popular theme for dummy boards. They may have been inspired by Dutch paintings of interiors, such as 'Woman peeling an apple' by Cornelius Bisshop (1630-1674), in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. 'Arnold Houbraken, writing in 1719...describes how Bisshop painted cur-out wooden templates which could be placed in a corner or doorway in the hope of deceiving the unwary' (Graham, 1988). There is a similar example at the Chateau de Malle near Bordeaux, France, and a19th century version at Knole Park.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Dummy boards are life-size, flat, wooden figures painted and shaped in outline to resemble figures of servants, soldiers, children, and animals. The taste for using illusionistic painted figures as a form of house decoration probably originated in the trompe l’oeil, or life-like interior scenes painted by Dutch artists in the early 17th century. Dummy boards continued to be produced into the 19th century. They were placed in corners and on stairways to surprise visitors, or in front of empty fireplaces in the summer. Most were made by professional sign-painters, who also produced the hanging street signs prevalent until the late 18th century.

Young women peeling apples were a popular theme for dummy boards.
Bibliographic reference
Graham, Clare. Dummy Boards and Chimney Boards. Shire Album 214, Aylesbury: Shire Publications Ltd, 1988. 32 p., ill. ISBN 085263921X.
Collection
Accession number
W.43-1929

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Record createdJune 27, 2007
Record URL
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