Asia, from Allegories of the Four Continents

Asia, from Allegories of the Four Continents

Fulda Pottery and Porcelain Manufactory

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the eighteenth century, small-scale figurines representing the allegories of the four continents were a popular fixture in genteel spaces. While the dissemination of such iconography in print form encouraged scholarly reflection, its migration into the realm of the decorative arts prompted whimsy and pleasure. The polished surfaces and exquisite detail of this ambitious group by the Fulda Manufactory afforded European viewers the intimate, tactile experience of beholding representations of other continents, whose precious goods and natural resources they coveted.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Asia, from Allegories of the Four ContinentsAsia, from Allegories of the Four ContinentsAsia, from Allegories of the Four ContinentsAsia, from Allegories of the Four ContinentsAsia, from Allegories of the Four Continents

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.