DUTCH SCHOOL, CIRCA 1630 | A portrait of a young boy, full-length, wearing a green hat, coral beads and a white frill collar, and holding a baton and a hobby horse

Anonymous sale, Masham, The Magellan Centre, 20 November 2016, lot 88.

The present work, painted in circa 1630, is an example of a 'dummy board' or 'silent companion' - painted panels whose edges follow the outline of the figure, enormously popular during the 17th century and onwards. These works were displayed without a frame and the trompe l'œil painting style was meant to fool viewers into thinking that the flat panel was a real figure.

From the mid-16th century until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight. There are often clues however that allude to the child's gender - in this case the hobby horse, a toy that at the time was only considered appropriate for boys.