Cleveland Museum of Art

The Four Continents

Christophe Philippe Oberkampf

Date

1790

Medium

Cotton: copperplate printed

Culture

France, 18th century

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Inspired by printed cottons from India, European manufacturers began printing textiles from copper plates in the 1750s. Originating in Ireland, the technique quickly spread to France where it flourished. Here, Jean-Baptiste Marie Huet I depicted female personifications of the four continents alongside their native flora and fauna. Although the artist based the plants and animals on real specimens observed at the Royal Botanical Gardens, he derived the personifications from racist stereotypes that imagined Europe as culturally superior: while Europe sits enthroned with symbols of the arts and knowledge at her feet, Africa wears an elephant headdress, America hunts an alligator, and Asia prays to a false god. Marie-Antoinette visited the textile factory where this design was made.

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