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Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons
maker Bristol Porcelain Factory (British, 1770–81)
c. 1775
- Medium
- hard-paste porcelain
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- Overall: 27 x 15.9 x 11.7 cm (10 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 4 5/8 in.)
- Culture
- England, Bristol
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Decorative Art and Design
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this 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.
