English, probably Nottingham, 15th century

Groups representing the Virgin and Child are relatively rare among extant alabaster carvings from medieval England. In his 2003 survey of English alabasters, Francis Cheetham lists 22 known examples of the Virgin seated with the Child on her right. This charming group would probably have been part of a larger ensemble such as an altarpiece or possibly a tomb; see the Virgin and Child in a tomb panel at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. A52-1932; Cheetham 1984, no. 122), which provides a compositional and stylistic comparison for the present sculpture. Restorations at the necks of both figures indicate that the present Virgin and Child may have been a victim of iconoclasm.

RELATED LITERATURE

F. Cheetham, English Medieval Alabasters: With a Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Oxford, 1984, nos. 118-122; F. Cheetham, Alabaster Images of Medieval England, Woodbridge, 2003, pp. 90-91 and figs. 68-73