Wood, paint, wire, string, and parchment
Bosch Pull Toy
A pull toy in the spirit of Hieronymus Bosch, with figures taken from a Bosch pen and ink drawing, mounted on a painted wooden cart. The platform is decorated with fine vine scrollwork; the pull rod terminates in a fish with legs.
Wood, paint, wire, string, and parchment
About the Piece
The figures are drawn in ink on Masonite, cut out, and mounted on the wooden platform — a technique that echoes the flat, graphic quality of Bosch's own panel paintings. The central figure balances a barrel overhead while a companion pushes from behind; a pig's trotter dangles from the distaff. When Bosch was working, a woman carrying a distaff like a lance was a very emasculating gesture, making this a somewhat subversive image.
The cart itself is painted in a warm ivory ground with delicate vine-scroll ornament along the edges. The wheels are wood, stained dark to suggest iron-bound spokes. A gothic arcade runs along the underside of the platform.
Wood, paint, wire, string, and parchment.