id: 97959
accession number: 1917.601.2
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.601.2
updated: 2022-01-13 10:00:30.922000
Figure of Asia and Africa from the Four Continents, c. 1760. Chelsea Porcelain Factory (Britain, London, 1745-84). Soft-paste porcelain; overall: 23.5 x 17.6 x 18.7 cm (9 1/4 x 6 15/16 x 7 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.601.2
title: Figure of Asia and Africa from the Four Continents
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1760
creation date earliest: 1755
creation date latest: 1765
current location:
creditline: Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness
copyright:
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culture: England, Chelsea, mid-18th century
technique: soft-paste porcelain
department: Decorative Art and Design
collection: Decorative Arts
type: Ceramic
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Chelsea Porcelain Factory (Britain, London, 1745-84) - manufactured by
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measurements: Overall: 23.5 x 17.6 x 18.7 cm (9 1/4 x 6 15/16 x 7 3/8 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
opening date: 1934-11-09T05:00:00
Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
*
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PROVENANCE
Mary Warden Harkness [1864-1916], New York, NY, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1916
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1917-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
Figural representations of the four continents date back to the 1500s, but such imagery became even more popular in the 1700s as European empires expanded.
digital description:
Often collected by wealthy British merchants who were beneficiaries of colonial expansion, figural groups were frequently part of elaborate table decorations meant to signify wealth and global dominance. In this work, Africa, who wears an elephant headdress and holds a scorpion in one hand, wrestles with Asia, who is surrounded by perfumes and native fruits. These depictions of Africa and Asia reveal a purely imagined understanding of faraway places.
wall description:
Figural representations of the four continents date back to the 1500s, but such imagery became even more popular in the 1700s as European empires expanded. Often collected by wealthy British merchants who were beneficiaries of colonial expansion, figural groups were frequently part of elaborate table decorations meant to signify wealth and global prominence.
In one pair, Europe is seen holding an orb and wearing a crown as queen of the world, suggesting Europe’s supremacy over the other continents. She is entangled with America, who is wearing feathers with a bow and arrow at her feet. Africa, who wears an elephant headdress and holds a scorpion in one hand, wrestles with Asia, who is surrounded by perfumes and native fruits. These depictions of America, Africa, and Asia reveal a purely imagined understanding of faraway places.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
F. A. W. "The Bequests of Mary Warden Harkness: A Tribute and an Accounting." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 2 (February 1928): 43-50.
page number: Mentioned: p. 43
url: www.jstor.org/stable/25137106
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.2/1917.601.2_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.2/1917.601.2_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.2/1917.601.2_full.tif