Collection Online as of August 13, 2022
Figure of Autumn from the Four Seasons
Part of a set. See all set records
Hard-paste porcelain
Overall: 28.4 x 16.2 x 13.7 cm (11 3/16 x 6 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.)
Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.611.1
Location
203A British Painting and Decorative Arts
Description
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 autumn is portrayed as a young girl playfully jostling her overskirt as she balances a basket of fruit against her hip. The grapes, plums, and apples filling her basket allude to a plentiful fall harvest.
Bristol Porcelain Factory
Benjamin Lund produced soft-paste porcelain known as Lund's Bristol Ware between 1749 and 1752. When William Cookworthy (1705-1784) moved his pottery works to Bristol from Plymouth, he began to produce England's first hard-paste porcelain. The works were soon transferred to his factory manager then partner Richard Champion (1743-1791), who directed the factory until its demise around 1782.