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The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Meissen Porcelain Factory, Meissen (manufacturer)
The four seasons (c. 1755)
porcelain (hard-paste)
(a) 8.6 × 4.1 × 3.3 cm (summer)
(b) 8.4 × 4.2 × 3.3 cm (spring)
(c) 8.2 × 4.3 × 3.3 cm (autumn)
(d) 8.4 × 3.6 × 3.1 cm (winter)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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The four seasons
(c. 1755)
Medium
porcelain (hard-paste)
Measurements
(a) 8.6 × 4.1 × 3.3 cm (summer)
(b) 8.4 × 4.2 × 3.3 cm (spring)
(c) 8.2 × 4.3 × 3.3 cm (autumn)
(d) 8.4 × 3.6 × 3.1 cm (winter)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Allegory, the representation of abstract concepts by pictorial means, is reflected in the subjects of many eighteenth-century porcelain sculptures. Allegorical figures were produced by nearly every European porcelain factory. Figures were often produced in series, representing such notions as the five senses, the Earth’s continents, or the arts and sciences. The four seasons were a particularly popular subject. Each bust here is adorned with an attribute over its head that identifies the work’s allegorical meaning. Spring is accompanied by blooming flowers, summer by ripened wheat, autumn by the grape harvest and winter by an enveloping cloak.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Meissen, Saxony, Germany
Accession Number
2024.483.a-d
Department
International Decorative Arts