Set of the Four Continents - Asia
ca. 1780
The iconography for the group of continents coalesced in the seventeenth century in an illustrated dictionary, Icono-logia, by Cesare Ripa (published in Rome in 1603), and in the famous Atlas maior published as a set of eleven volumes in Amsterdam in 1662. A Dutch family of cartographers, named Blaeu, produced it. Female figures and an exotic animal from each land represent the continents.
Soft paste porcelain with enamel and gilt
9 3/16 x 4 1/8 in. (23.3 x 10.5 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Corydon Wagner
64.121