Late Gothic English oak sculpture of an angel

Carved in oak and retaining traces of its original polychromy, this late Gothic angel is shown holding a flowing banner across his chest. The figure wears a long robe with deeply carved vertical folds painted in red, and has softly modelled features framed by shallow curling hair.
Although sometimes catalogued as Archangel Michael, the absence of his typical attributes — sword, scales, or dragon — suggests this is a more generic messenger angel, almost certainly one of a group originally adorning a church interior. Angels holding banners are a hallmark of English rood screens and choir screens of the 15th century, particularly in East Anglia and the West Country, and the present carving strongly reflects that tradition. The robust treatment of the drapery, the rounded modelling of the face, and the restrained naturalism point towards an English origin rather than Netherlandish.
Mounted on a later base.