# Figure of Asia and Africa from the Four Continents

- By: Chelsea Porcelain Factory (Britain, London, 1745–84)
- Date: c. 1760
- Medium: soft-paste porcelain
- Classification: Ceramic
- Dimensions: Overall: 23.5 x 17.6 x 18.7 cm (9 1/4 x 6 15/16 x 7 3/8 in.)
- Culture: England, Chelsea, mid-18th century
- Credit line: Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.601.2)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.2/1917.601.2_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Often collected by wealthy British merchants who were beneficiaries of colonial expansion, figural groups were frequently part of elaborate table decorations meant to signify wealth and global dominance. In this work, Africa, who wears an elephant headdress and holds a scorpion in one hand, wrestles with Asia, who is surrounded by perfumes and native fruits. These depictions of Africa and Asia reveal a purely imagined understanding of faraway places.