【lay figure】 —

1. a wooden figure of the human body, used as a model for the arrangement of draperies, etc.:

• Her aunt asked her to stand as a sort of 【lay figure】 on which to display them [shawls].

2. smb. of little importance; an insignificant person:

• At chapel the registrar is the important person, and the officiating minister is a mere 【lay figure】 .

3. a character in fiction lacking in the attributes of reality:

• The women are not so well drawn as the men, but Mrs. Gall, while conventional, is not a 【lay figure】 .

【lay person】 —(also: layman) a non-expert in relation to some particular profession:

• The twentieth century has obliterated the skilled amateur and widened the gap between the technical professional and the 【lay person】 .