Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons (c. 1775): Art, History and Details

Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons (c. 1775) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Bristol Porcelain Factory (British, 1770–81).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The modern notion of childhood as a time of innocence and simplicity emerged during the second half of the eighteenth century. This understanding of adolescence led to numerous depictions of children as personifications of the four seasons. Here summer is portrayed as a young boy holding a sheaf of wheat as he leans against the beehive next to him. Both grain and honey have been associated with summer harvests and their accompanying festivals since antiquity.

Object facts

• Title: Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons
• Date: c. 1775
• Creator attribution: Bristol Porcelain Factory (British, 1770–81)
• Culture: England, Bristol
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: hard-paste porcelain
• Dimensions: Overall: 27 x 15.9 x 11.7 cm (10 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 4 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1917.611.3

A detail from the museum

Allegorical figures most often decorated a table during the dessert course, providing amusing subjects for conversation.

Collection credit

Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
• "European Porcelains Bequeathed by Mary Warden Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 2 part II (February 1928): 57-59

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.