South German Artist, May Vases (Maivasen), 1780, Painting on Wood, Set of 2

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Pair of painted wood May vases, South Germany, circa 1780. Each is a tall, tapering wooden board cut in the … Read more Pair of painted wood May vases, South Germany, circa 1780. Each is a tall, tapering wooden board cut in the outline of a vase and painted on the face.
At the foot of each panel is a gilt-ochre urn with scrolling handles, standing on a dark plinth. from the urn rises a vertical bouquet of roses, tulips, daisies and sunflower-like blooms against a brown ground. The boards narrow to a circular medallion at the top: one painted with a Marian monogram, the other with the Christogram IHS, a cross and nails.
In southern Germany a Maivase held the first greenery of May — birch, lilac and spring flowers — set in the house or at the window for the May custom (Maibrauchtum). Wooden boards painted as vases served the same idea in lasting form: they could hang on a wall or stand in a church or domestic interior through the season, and beyond it. Pairs with Mary on one side and IHS on the other belong to that religious-domestic use.
Painted wood; the reverse left plain. Wear to the paint consistent with age.
Height 59 cm (23.2 in), width 18 cm (7.1 in), depth 2 cm (0.8 in). See less