Description:
One of a set of three English pearlware allegorical figures that were undoubtedly part of a set of the "Four Seasons," which commonly appeared on English mantelpieces and cupboards in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many of the early English porcelain factories drew their inspiration from Continental European, particularly Meissen Factory, originals. Staffordshire potters created less costly alternatives in creamware and pearlware for their middle class market. The three molded figurines are decorated in "Prattware" colors, after the potter, William Pratt, who developed the palette at his factory in Lane Delph, Staffordshire. These are the typical range of colors available for underglaze painted decoration, a palette limited to colors derived from metallic oxides that could withstand the heat of the glaze firing. Each figure depicts a woman dressed according to a season of the year marked on the base: "Spring", "Summer" and "Autumn". "Spring" holds cornucopia of flowers and bouquet of flowers; "Summer" holds a bundle of wheat and a sycthe; and "Autumn" holds a cornucopia of fruit and a bundle of fruit.
Tags:
allegory Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1999.34.1 |
