Late 16th-Century English Antique Carved Oak Term, circa 1600

A boldly carved oak term (or therm) figure dating to the close of the Elizabethan period, circa 1600, the vigorous relief carving displaying the confident, slightly vernacular hand characteristic of English Renaissance work executed after Continental pattern-book sources.

The upper register is carved with a stylised foliate spray or palmette boss, the paired lobes deeply gouged with radiating veining above a scalloped lower edge. Beneath sits the principal motif: the bust of a bearded male worthy, his head framed by a flaring, flame-like mane of stylised hair rendered as a sunburst halo, the brow furrowed, moustachioed and with a long forked beard falling to the chest. The figure's arms are drawn across the body, the strapwork baldric or bandolier carved in beaded relief across one shoulder. Below the bust the shaft tapers in the canonical term form, carved with a strapwork lozenge enclosing a recessed saltire, the apron terminating in opposed C-scrolls — the whole vocabulary drawn from the Mannerist ornament disseminated through engravings of the type associated with Vredeman de Vries and his imitators.

The figure would originally have served as an applied upright — almost certainly one of a pair or set — to the stile or corner pilaster of a court or press cupboard, or possibly as an architectural element from panelling or a chimneypiece. Solid oak throughout, with a deep, dry colour and the surface abrasion, shrinkage and minor losses entirely consistent with four centuries of age.

A decorative and sculpturally engaging fragment of early English oak carving.

Provenance: England, circa 1600.

Material: Oak

Condition: Solid oak throughout, with a deep, dry colour and the surface abrasion, shrinkage and minor losses entirely consistent with four centuries of age.

Dimensions: Height 44 cm (17¼ in)