Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Relief: A Piece of Flowers, c. 1750

"A Piece of Flowers," c. 1750
E.M. Diemar, Germnay
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Relief tableaus in wax, in the Eighteenth Century, were a novel way of introducing a dramatic decorative touch into a room. This oval relief in colored wax, depicts a variety of flowers (in somewhat natural colors) including roses, lilies, tulips, convolvulus, a foxglove and a hyacinth.

The piece is signed at the bottom, “E.M. Diemar.”  Diemar (1720-c. 1790) was one of a family of artists and craftsmen in Germany. Unlike his relatives, he concentrated on the production of small works of art, principally in wax.