Walnut wood statuette of a standing Virgin and Child

The Virgin is shown standing, holding the Christ Child with her right arm, and supporting his legs with her left hand. She is wearing a circlet head-dress of twisted ribbon and pearls on her long hair. She wears a gown and mantle, and appears to be wearing patens under her shoes. Christ wears a long tunic, which was originally silver, now darkened to grey, and holds an orb (possibly originally a fruit (restored)) in his left hand while blessing with his right.

The polychromy on the figure has been almost totally stripped, though there are traces of colour and the white ground in the drapery folds, of red bole in the hair and green on the ground.

The shield of Malines is stamped on the reverse, at just below hip height, while the rest of the reverse is uncarved.

The figure is otherwise in good condition, with one small repair to the left-hand side of the front of the base. There are numerous plugged worm holes.

On the underside of the base are three small nail holes, and two larger filled holes.

Given by Mr Aymer Vallance

Given by Mr Alymer Vallance, London, in 1933.

This group is typical of Malines figures in its scale, the poses of the figures (particularly the reclining pose of the Christ Child, which is similar to 697-1907) and the presence of the usual shield mark on the reverse.
But the lack of colour on this figure group shows clearly the importance of painting in the final appearance of Malines figures generally. The facial features, particularly the heavy eye-lids, seem over-simplified, and reading the composition is made more difficult. The various drapery folds, the demarcation between the figure and the base, and between Christ and the Virgin would have been clearly defined by the painter.

This figure of the standing Virgin and Christ Child is stripped of its original paint. The Child is dressed in a long tunic. His left hand holds an orb, probably a fruit. This detail has been restored. He blesses with his right hand.
Most statuettes made in Malines (Mechelen, Belgium) had multi-colour painted decoration so this example shows what a difference such decoration made. With the Virgin's face, for example, our attention is now drawn to the simple rounded shape and heavy eye-lids. The lack of colour also makes it difficult to see the different parts of the sculpture. For example, the decorative punched and painted border of the Virgin's mantle would have emphasized the visual break between the figure and the base.

A.20-1933