Bench End thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Bench End

1400-1500 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Oak bench end with with foliated poppy-head carved on one side


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Bench end, English, 1400-1500, from a church in Norfolk or Suffolk
Physical description
Oak bench end with with foliated poppy-head carved on one side
Credit line
Given By Mr F. C. Eeles
Bibliographic reference
Charles Tracy, English Medieval Furniture and Woodwork (London, 1988), cat. no. 187. 'BENCH END, one of four (Mus. Nos. W.74-1914 – W.77-1914) with foliated poppy-head carved on one side, plain standard. 93.9 x 26.7 cm Given By Mr F. C. Eeles Oak. 15th century 65 X 34.6 cm Mus. No. W.74-1924 From a church in Norfolk or Suffolk, purchased in Bury St Edmund’s, these bench-ends were thought by the donor to have come from the north of Suffolk. Plenty of examples of outward, rather than axially facing figures placed on the buttresses of bench-ends can be cited from that area, including Wilby (FIG.42) or Athelington. The Rattlesden, Suffolk, poppy-head is the best known example of foliage turning into a human mask (FIG.43). The museum's specimen is different in that the lower part of the carving takes the form of the mask’s body.'
Collection
Accession number
W.74-1924

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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