Monday, February 4, 2013

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Summer, c. 1775

Figure of Summer
Bristol England, 1775
The Victoria & Albert Museum



Made in Bristol, England, this figure of hard-paste porcelain is painted with enamel colors and handsome gilded. A perfect representation of the pastoral style which was popular in the last quarter of the Eighteenth Century, the figure depicts a bare-legged shepherd boy holding a sheaf of wheat and a sickle. He has cast off his coat, throwing it over a bee-hive (which I don’t think is a good idea). Despite his curious choice of coat rack, he is obviously a representation of Summer. 

The Bristol Porcelain Factory, during the 1770s, was trying to rival the French and German porcelains which had become fashionable as table decorations on the continent. Such “farm” images were wildly popular, and the Bristol Factory found much success with their variations. 





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