Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons

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.

A glazed white porcelain figurine depicts a child leaning against a coiled yellow beehive to their left, head tilted down. The figure wears a wheat wreath, ruffled white shirt, and orange trousers with gold floral patterns. A blue sash wraps their waist. Their right hand holds a green wheat bundle, while the left arm rests on a pink cloth draped over the hive. The child's bare legs cross on a grassy base.

Figure of Summer from the Four Seasons

c. 1775

Bristol Porcelain Factory

(British, 1770–81)

England, Bristol

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