MID-18TH CENTURY

Dummy boards, in the form of soldiers, servants, children and animals, have been used to deceive and amuse since the early 17th Century with an example being illustrated in The Compleat Gamester in 1674, and as early as 1545 the Italian architect Serilo had recommended the use of statues painted on cut-out board for use on the stage and also referred to the practice of depicting living creatures. Many figures of dogs and cats were produced, while the Victoria and Albert Museum has a figure of a pig. In her book Clare Graham, describes this board as a life-size painted lion, perhaps from a circus or pleasure ground (loc. cit., p.24.). A pair of William III lion dummy boards sold from the collection of Simon Sainsbury, The Creation of an English Arcadia, Christie's London, 18 June 2008, lot 230 (13,125); and an English dummy board in the form of a Mastiff was sold from the collection of Christopher Gibbs, Christie's, The Manor House at Clifton Hampden, 25-26 September 2000, lot 167 (16,450).