Pair of Mid 17th Century Flemish Antique Carved Oak Bosses / Panels Depicting Autumn & Winter

A rare and characterful pair of mid-17th-century Flemish carved oak bosses, boldly worked in deep relief as personifications of the Seasons: Autumn and Winter.

Autumn is rendered as a youthful, Bacchus-like figure, his head crowned with a hat of vine leaves and clustered grapes, a further bunch of grapes held before him — the timeless emblem of the vintage, drawn from the classical iconography of Bacchus (Dionysus) that Flemish carvers inherited through Renaissance print sources. His companion, Winter, is depicted as an aged man wrapped up in furs against the cold, a basket of firewood upon his back and a fur-lined cap upon his head, to which his clay pipe is charmingly attached — a delightfully vernacular Low Countries touch that anchors the classical allegory firmly in the everyday world of the 17th-century Fleming.

The Four Seasons were among the most popular decorative programmes of the Flemish Baroque, disseminated through the engravings of artists such as Wenceslaus Hollar and the workshops of Antwerp, and carved bosses of this type would originally have punctuated the ribs of a ceiling, the frieze of a panelled room, or the fittings of a substantial town house or ecclesiastical interior. The survival of a pair, retaining their sculptural depth, crisp detail, and rich, dry surface colour, is increasingly uncommon.

Provenance: Flemish, circa 1650.

Material: Oak

Condition: as per images. A minor repair is evident to the left of the wall plate of the Winter figure (difficult to see unless viewed under scrutiny), and there is a minor loss to the right side of his hat. The Autumn figure has a very minor repair to the wall plate beside the elbow of his left arm (right of images), again difficult to spot. There is a slight disparity in colour between the two carvings - Autumn may have been exposed to stronger light, and the timber surface is slightly lighter from this. The bosses could be recoloured if need be to match, however, we feel the slight disparity adds to their overall charm!

Dimensions: Height 11" x Width 9¾" x Depth 2" approx (28cm x 25cm x 5cm approx)