Pilaster
1550-1600 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Pilasters are flattened columns used to decorate a wall or the surface of an object designed in the classical style. This example may have decorated a bed, cupboard, chimney-piece or overmantel. The long rectangular shaft of a pilaster was suited to narrow, vertical decoration, as here. Other forms of decoration included strapwork (which resembles flattened bands of leather) and grotesques composed of small, loosely connected motifs derived from ancient Roman wall painting.
Design
The design shows the influence of northern European engravings. The Nine Muses, the ancient Greek goddesses of the arts, were a popular subject for a series of individual engravings. Pilasters that combine both grotesque masks and female figures appear in the prints of Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau (around 1515-1585) and Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-?1606).
Subjects Depicted
The pilaster is decorated with a figure known as a 'term' - the upper half is human and the legs take the form of a tapering pilaster decorated with a mask. She probably represents Thalia, the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry, and holds a lira da braccio (an early form of violin), an instrument with which Thalia is often represented.
Pilasters are flattened columns used to decorate a wall or the surface of an object designed in the classical style. This example may have decorated a bed, cupboard, chimney-piece or overmantel. The long rectangular shaft of a pilaster was suited to narrow, vertical decoration, as here. Other forms of decoration included strapwork (which resembles flattened bands of leather) and grotesques composed of small, loosely connected motifs derived from ancient Roman wall painting.
Design
The design shows the influence of northern European engravings. The Nine Muses, the ancient Greek goddesses of the arts, were a popular subject for a series of individual engravings. Pilasters that combine both grotesque masks and female figures appear in the prints of Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau (around 1515-1585) and Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-?1606).
Subjects Depicted
The pilaster is decorated with a figure known as a 'term' - the upper half is human and the legs take the form of a tapering pilaster decorated with a mask. She probably represents Thalia, the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry, and holds a lira da braccio (an early form of violin), an instrument with which Thalia is often represented.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Oak, carved |
| Brief description | Pilaster, English, 1550-1600 |
| Physical description | Carved oak pilaster |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Percy Z. Round |
| Object history | Made in England. Carved oak carytid, given by Percy Z Round Notes from R.P. 25/5042 One of 2 "carved Elizabethan pilasters" given by Percy Z Round of Hornsey Lane, N6 in 1925 Condition noted on receipt: both chipped. 16/7/25 Minute Paper of H C Smith describes "two Elizabethan pilasters from an overmantel or back of a bed" as characteristic of the period and useful for circulation. |
| Summary | Object Type Pilasters are flattened columns used to decorate a wall or the surface of an object designed in the classical style. This example may have decorated a bed, cupboard, chimney-piece or overmantel. The long rectangular shaft of a pilaster was suited to narrow, vertical decoration, as here. Other forms of decoration included strapwork (which resembles flattened bands of leather) and grotesques composed of small, loosely connected motifs derived from ancient Roman wall painting. Design The design shows the influence of northern European engravings. The Nine Muses, the ancient Greek goddesses of the arts, were a popular subject for a series of individual engravings. Pilasters that combine both grotesque masks and female figures appear in the prints of Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau (around 1515-1585) and Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-?1606). Subjects Depicted The pilaster is decorated with a figure known as a 'term' - the upper half is human and the legs take the form of a tapering pilaster decorated with a mask. She probably represents Thalia, the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry, and holds a lira da braccio (an early form of violin), an instrument with which Thalia is often represented. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.536-1925 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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