Four Meissen porcelain figures "The Four Seasons".
Four Meissen porcelain figures "The Four Seasons". Four allegorical figures on gilt rimmed square plinths. The female figure of Spring holds a daffodil to her nose. The female figure of Summer holds a sickle and wheat sheaves in her hands. The young satyr representing Autumn is shown before a barrel eating grapes. The older, male figure of Winter wears a thick fur and stands shivering by a fire. Ground down, unglazed undersides, the Spring with blue crossed swords mark to the back of the socle. Small, restored chips to the flowers and fingertips, the head and arms of the Spring restored, one index finger of the Summer lost, the leg of Autumn restored. Spring 25.4, Summer and Autumn 26.8 cm, Winter 27 cm.
Mid to 3rd quarter 18th C., modelled by Johann Friedrich Eberlein between 1740 and 1745.
One of the greatest sources of inspiration for early Meissen porcelain figures was provided by the works created by the Baroque sculptor Balthasar Permoser for the Saxon court as of 1689. This series of the four seasons is also based on one of his prototypes, namely the famous ivory sculptures carved between 1685 and 1690 which are today kept in the green vault in Dresden. This set of figures presumably formed the basis for the attributes and poses of the four seasons series produced by the manufactory until the 1760s, when they were remodelled by Friedrich Elias Meyer.
Literature
For the story behind the figures, cf.: Cat. Balthasar Permoser hat´s gemacht, Dresden 2001, no. 18 (the ivory figures in the green vault) and no. 33 (Eberlein's figure of autumn, the white figure from the porcelain collection, formed 1765).