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carved from a single block of oak, the bevelled seat adorned with a frieze of ten small flowers set upon a long, bevelled pedestal tapering to a point, The pendant is set within a large Gothic foliage scroll, entirely openwork, at the centre of which is a coat-of-arms shield bearing a rampant lion.
Flanders, probably Bruges, 15th century.
Height: 36.5 cm – Width: 20 cm – Depth: 13 cm
(Restored, with minor visible damage)
When the seat is raised, the mercy seat forms a small, low-set platform on which one can sit whilst appearing to remain standing. Judging by its iconography, our example appears to have originated from a secular piece of furniture, perhaps a pulpit, and seems to be more closely associated with a context of political representation than with liturgical use.