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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.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
b7a48972598a6851
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
97958
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "97958",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Figure of Europe and America from the Four Continents",
    "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.",
    "date": "c. 1760",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.601.1",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
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    "creators": [
        18265
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Ceramic"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 24.6 x 18.9 x 16.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "England, Chelsea, mid-18th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1917.601.1"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "97958",
    "label": "Figure of Europe and America from the Four Continents",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "97958",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Figure of Europe and America from the Four Continents",
    "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.",
    "date": "c. 1760",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.601.1",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60760972"
    ],
    "creators": [
        18265
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Ceramic"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 24.6 x 18.9 x 16.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "England, Chelsea, mid-18th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1917.601.1"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "soft-paste porcelain",
    "tombstone": "Figure of Europe and America from the Four Continents, c. 1760. Chelsea Porcelain Factory (Britain, London, 1745–84). Soft-paste porcelain; overall: 24.6 x 18.9 x 16.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness, 1917.601.1",
    "collection": "Decorative Arts",
    "didYouKnow": "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.",
    "citations": {
        "1": {
            "citation": "F. A. W. \"The Bequests of Mary Warden Harkness: A Tribute and an Accounting.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>15, no. 2 (February 1928): 43-50.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 43",
            "url": "www.jstor.org/stable/25137106"
        }
    },
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.601.1",
    "creditline": "Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:17:12.967000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.601.1/1917.601.1_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 97958,
    "dept": "Decorative Art and Design",
    "coll": "Decorative Arts",
    "med": "soft-paste porcelain",
    "creatorTags": [
        "gender unknown"
    ],
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
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