Not currently on display at the V&A

Summer (Flora)

Statuette
ca.1790 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This figure and A.3-1978 (Bacchus or Autumn) were once probably part of a set of four figures symbolising the four seasons, the other two now lost.

On acquisition, in January 1928, the Keeper of the Department of Architecture and Sculpture, R.P. Bedford, noted that this and the pendant figure were 'apparently Dieppe work of the end of the eighteenth century. They are not of particularly good quality but we have nothing quite like them and perhaps we may accept them.' Museum Registry, Nominal file, Mrs Mary H. Greg).


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleSummer (Flora) (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved ivory on ivory and wood socle
Brief description
Statuette, ivory on ivory and wood socles, Summer, French (Dieppe), ca. 1790
Physical description
This female allegorical figure of Summer is shown bare-breasted, walking forward, holding a basket of flowers, in the guise of Flora.
Dimensions
  • Whole height: 12.2cm
  • Statuette alone height: 8.3cm
Object history
Given by Mrs Mary H. Greg, 27 St Mary Abbots Court, High Street Kensington, London, in 1928. Mrs Gregg gave a large number of objects to the Museum during the 1920s and 1930s, including dolls and toys for the Bethnal Green Museum (now the Museum of Childhood), and textiles.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This figure and A.3-1978 (Bacchus or Autumn) were once probably part of a set of four figures symbolising the four seasons, the other two now lost.

On acquisition, in January 1928, the Keeper of the Department of Architecture and Sculpture, R.P. Bedford, noted that this and the pendant figure were 'apparently Dieppe work of the end of the eighteenth century. They are not of particularly good quality but we have nothing quite like them and perhaps we may accept them.' Museum Registry, Nominal file, Mrs Mary H. Greg).
Associated object
A.3-1928 (Pair)
Bibliographic references
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1929, Part II, p. 79
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, cat. no. 251, pp. 268, 9
Collection
Accession number
A.2-1928

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Record createdApril 28, 2009
Record URL
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