The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Figure of Europe and America from the Four Continents
c. 1760
manufactured by
(Britain, London, 1745–84)
Overall: 24.6 x 18.9 x 16.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.)
Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.601.1
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
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.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. Here, 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. This depiction of America reveals a purely imagined understanding of faraway places.- ?-1916Mary Warden Harkness [1864-1916], New York, NY, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art1917-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- nullF. 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. Mentioned: p. 43 25137106
- Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).
- {{cite web|title=Figure of Europe and America from the Four Continents|url=false|author=Chelsea Porcelain Factory|year=c. 1760|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1917.601.1