Well-rounded relief figures of winged boys are captured in poses that represent the four s...

Well-rounded relief figures of winged boys are captured in poses that represent the four seasons.  Spring carries a bird and its nest of newly-laid eggs. Summer bears a flowering garland. Autumn appears with a sheaf of wheat over his shoulder, his scythe in his other hand. Chilly winter warms himself at a classical brazier. 

The boys are spaced evenly around the "belly" of  a graceful tear drop shaped vase. A band of laurel at the neck provides the only other ornamentation.

Symbolic representations of the seasons represent a motif that remained popular from class...

Symbolic representations of the seasons represent a motif that remained popular from classical times until at least the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Traditionally, they relate to the cycles of nature or agriculture. One wonders how a more modern notion of the seasons might be represented. Putti at a spring break beach party? Playing baseball? Trudging back to school, their wings drooping dejectedly? Putti shopping for the holidays?

Wedgwood's more traditional seasons allegories derive from 1775 Flaxman designs, modeled by William Hackwood c. 1777.