The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Figures Depicting the Four Seasons

Figures Depicting the Four Seasons

c. 1775
(British, 1770–81)
England, Bristol
hard-paste porcelain
Part 1: 28.4 x 16.2 x 13.7 cm (11 3/16 x 6 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.); Part 2: 27 x 14.5 x 9.4 cm (10 5/8 x 5 11/16 x 3 11/16 in.); Part 3: 27 x 15.9 x 11.7 cm (10 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 4 5/8 in.); Part 4: 27.2 x 13 x 11.5 cm (10 11/16 x 5 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.)
Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.611
Location: 203A British Painting and Decorative Arts

Did You Know?

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

Description

In this group depicting the four seasons, a young boy in ice skates represents winter; a young lady adorns her hair with flowers in spring; a young man guards his beehive in summer; and a girl gathers fruit in autumn.
  • ?-1916
    Mary Warden Harkness [1864-1916], New York, NY, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1917-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "Bequest of Mrs. Charles W. Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 4 (1917): 63. Mentioned: p. 63 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
    Only Summer (1917.611.3) and Autumn (1917.611.2) reproduced. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 11 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
    Only Summer (1917.611.3) and Autumn (1917.611.2) reproduced. Reproduced: p. 10 archive.org
    "The Bequests of Mary Warden Harkness: A Tribute and an Accounting." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 2 part II (February 1928): 43-50 Mentioned: p. 43 www.jstor.org
    "European Porcelains Bequeathed by Mary Warden Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 2 part II (February 1928): 57-59 Mentioned: p. 59 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
    Only Autumn (1917.611.2) reproduced. Incorrectly published as Spring (1917.611.1). Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 267 archive.org
  • British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
    No legacy exhibitions.
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).
  • {{cite web|title=Figures Depicting the Four Seasons|url=false|author=Bristol Porcelain Factory|year=c. 1775|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1917.611