Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons

c. 1775

Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons, c. 1775. Bristol Porcelain Factory (British, 1770–81). Hard-paste porcelain; overall: 27 x 15.9 x 11.7 cm (10 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 4 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.611.3 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. Allegorical figures most often decorated a table during the dessert course, providing amusing subjects for conversation.