A Man Hawking

This figure originally represented a man hawking, with a coat of arms painted on the base beneath him. It was probably once one of a group of weepers, distributed around the sides of a tomb chest.

Tomb chests with figures around the sides were especially popular during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These figures could represent a funeral procession of cloaked weepers and ecclesiastics, but just as often had a more secular cast of characters, perhaps intended to represent relatives of the deceased, or their descendants. This piece is a good example of this latter type.

The figure also bears strong resemblances to contemporary representations of St Thibaut (Theobald) of Auxois, a locally venerated saint in Burgundy, and may represent him.