Silent Companion, Woman with a Sword

Image credit: National Trust Images

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Notes

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This painted wooden figure is a woman holding a sword, and could represent the virtue Vigilance, although she is accompanied by a benign-looking puppy. These types of pictures are not really paintings but furniture and are called dummy boards or, to quote Vita Sackville-West, 'silent companions'. They were usually found greeting guests in the entrance halls of houses, or were used as firescreens.

National Trust, Snowshill Manor

near Broadway

Title

Silent Companion, Woman with a Sword

Date

c.1655–1670

Medium

oil on wood

Measurements

H 129 x W 67 cm

Accession number

1336274

Acquisition method

gift from Charles Paget Wade along with Snowshill Manor, 1951

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

National Trust, Snowshill Manor

Snowshill, near Broadway, Gloucestershire WR12 7JU England

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