The First Hour of the Night looks rather fondly at a small owl sleeping in her left hand. He will wake up later on. In her right she holds a couple of poppy stems with their pods full of soporific seeds. It is generally lost in cameo representations, but she is under the planet and sign of Mars, the belligerent warrior god.
Even printers tended to play fast and loose with the poppies. This saffron robed Hour by Michaelangelo Maestri appears to be holding red poppy flowers rather than the drabber pods. Perhaps he thought viewers would more readily recognize the flowers.
Cameo carvers also gave more attention to the owl; how well the poppies are executed is a measure of the quality of the piece.
Most of the time, if they are there at all, they look more like a shuttle for weaving than any form of plant life.
Although very sketchily carved, the First Hour of the Night can still be detected in this piece.
