Africa, from Allegories of the Four Continents
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Overall (confirmed): 9 13/16 x 4 7/8 x 4 9/16 in. (24.9 x 12.4 x 11.6 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
German, Fulda
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Estate of James Hazen Hyde, 1959
Accession Number
59.208.6
Tags
About this artwork
This exquisite hard-paste porcelain figure represents Africa in the Fulda Manufactory's ambitious allegorical series depicting the four continents, created after designs by Johann Andreas Herrlein between 1781 and 1788. During the eighteenth century, sets of figurines personifying the continents became popular fixtures in genteel European spaces, offering wealthy collectors the opportunity to display their cosmopolitanism and engagement with global geography. The Fulda series exemplifies the sop...