Brass figure from a chandelier, on one knee with his right arm raised behind his head, German, 15th century

Figure from the top of a chandelier, kneeling on one knee with the right arm raised behind his head, and the left arm drooping as if resting on a shield.

Purchased for £105 in 1937

Historical significance: The wildman or wodewose was a popular mythical creature believed to live in the woods. The wodewose appeared in romance literature, religious stories and saints' lives. He was associated with desire and lust, physical agression and insanity. However he later also came to symbolise freedom and the the unsinful innocent life. The wildman also became increasingly associated with traditional courtly pastimes from courtly love to chivalry. On this object the wodewose acts as an armorial support. Wildmen are often seen in this heraldic context bearing coats of arms. A covered silver beaker in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (Cloisters collection 50.7.1a,b) shows a wildman holding a shield in a very similar position to the V&A and Cleveland chandelier figures. In this context, the wildman appears to be a humourous and subversive figure, playfully parodying chivalric and courtly culture. At the same time, he was used to promote heraldic language and the identity of the person whose arms he once bore.

This object is a figure from a chandelier. It would have hung above the lights of the chandelier itself. The chandelier stem would have passed through the hole in the figure's body. A similar example in the Cleveland Museum of Art (65.21) suggests that the wildman was once holding a club in his right hand. His kneeling position and the placing of his left hand may also indicate that he once rested a heraldic shield against his knee.

Many surviving chandelier figures represent a Christian theme. Chandeliers featuring the Virgin Mary or the saints were often hung inside a church. This is a secular figure however, which may suggest that the chandelier was used in the home. As such, the figure would be a rare example from a secular ornamental light of the medieval period.

This object is a figure from a chandelier. The chandelier stem would have passed through the hole in the figure's body. The figure represents a wildman or "wodewose", a popular mythical creature believed to live in the woods. This wildman once held a club in his right hand. His kneeling position may also indicate that he once rested a heraldic shield against his knee. Wildmen were also sometimes depicted as armorial supports in medieval art. In this context, the wildman was a humourous and subversive figure, playfully parodying chivalric and courtly culture.

M.168-1937