Great Malvern's labours of the months
Misericords with seasonal scenes
Great Malvern's misericords have been repositioned and some of them have been lost. But there are still enough figures that can tentatively be identified as symbols of the months.
This is surely January, a well dressed man sitting at his table, holding up two chalices to us. The two chalices represent the duality of January - it both ends the old year and starts a new one. The classical god Janus had two faces, and you sometimes see that in medieval work (there's even a threefold Janus face representing the Trinity in Salisbury cathedral chapter house) - but I prefer this rather comfortable image of the host holding out the two cups of wine.
This must be July - the harvester with a scythe. It's rather a cramped composition compared to the fine January.
And now, what looks to modern eyes like someone cutting the flowerbed borders on the lawn, but I suspect he is pruning vines or other young plants. And in fact those are probably not shears, but a long stick used to hold down the plant and a long-handled blade to cut it. Without the rest of the series it's difficult to tell what month is being shown here.
And below is my favourite out of all the Malvern images, probably October. Here, you see the whole misericord, including the 'supporters'. Unlike the other misericords where the supporters are purely decorative, flowers or leaves, here they are part of the scene - the little pigs who are being taken to the forest to be fattened up. The figure here - far too well dressed to be a mere pig-herd! - is knocking the oak tree with a stick to bring the acorns down for the pigs to eat.
The Malvern misericords also include a man holding a bunch of grapes and a basket, probably for the September vintage; a man sowing, for March; and an ox-killing scene, rather than pig-killing, for December. There's also the image that set me off on my quest for more labours of the months - a man carrying garlands, for May.
Malvern's misericords are related to sets at Worcester cathedral and at Ripple, Worcestershire - but there are some differences. For instance, Ripple shows harrowing instead of sowing for March.
Return to the list of images of labours of the months