Early 20th Century Dummy Boardor or Silent Companion

An early 20th century dummy board or silent companion depicting a dark-skinned young boy carrying a kettle.

Dummy boards (or "silent companions") from the Edwardian period (1901–1911) are life-sized, or smaller, hand-painted wooden figures designed to resemble servants, soldiers, children, or animals. While their popularity peaked in the 17th and 18th centuries (after which, the fashion for dummy boards in homes had waned and they were sometimes placed outdoors in gardens, with many succumbing to the elements), they experienced a revival during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

They were often placed in the corners of rooms and on stairways of houses to surprise (uninvited) visitors. They were also known to reside in front of empty or unused fireplaces during the summer months. Some even suggest that, when just under life-sized, these painted wooden figures were intended to create an optical illusion, making a room appear larger.

Crafted from slim 9mm plywood, this decorative piece displays surface marks suggestive of prior exposure to outdoor conditions or extended storage in an unsound loft. Despite these signs of wear, it retains undeniable charm and remains stable and sturdy.

The use of plywood for these decorative figures, instead of solid wood panels, is not tied to a single historical event, the transition generally aligns with the industrial evolution of plywood in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While invented at the end of the 18th century, the large-scale commercial production of plywood began in the 1880s. Around this time, reproductions of earlier dummy board styles started being made using newer industrial materials.

Dimensions: H 91

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