A MEISSEN COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN FROM THE DUKE OF WEISSENFELS SERIES

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THE COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FIGURES MADE FOR THE DUKE OF WEISSENFELS The series of eighteen Commedia dell'Arte figures was commissioned by Johann Adolf II, Duke of Sachsen-Weissenfels (1685-1746), first cousin of Augustus the Strong. It is the largest and most influential group of all Meissen commedia figures and has traditionally been associated with the Duke's marriage to Frederike von Sachsen-Gotha in 1743. His familiarity with the subject is evident in his participation in the Comique Caroussel of 1722 and his enthusiasm for Commedia is further demonstrated by his choosing to play the role of Scaramouche in the Bauernwirtschaft, held to celebrate the visit of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia to Dresden in 1729. The series is therefore a particularly apt choice of decoration for his table. Ten of the characters were directly inspired by Joullain's engravings in Riccoboni's Histoire du théâtre italien, published in Paris in 1728, with a further two (Pantalone and Dottore Boloardo) being more loosely based on the engravings. Fourteen of the figures are documented as being modelled by Reinicke between March and September 1744 with Dancing Harlequine recorded later in October 1747. Kändler appears to have had a supervisory role with records showing that at least nine of the figures were 'corrected' by him between March and August 1744; there are no records of the other figures. This playful and light-hearted group of figures became so popular that it was widely copied in European stoneware and in English porcelain, most notably at the Chelsea, Bow and Derby factories. It represents one of the most important collaborations between Kändler and Reinicke and encapsulates the new found taste for the rococo that had begun to develop in the early 1740s. PORCELAIN FROM THE PATRICIA HART COLLECTION

A MEISSEN COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN FROM THE DUKE OF WEISSENFELS SERIES

CIRCA 1744, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS AT BACK

Details

A MEISSEN COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN FROM THE DUKE OF WEISSENFELS SERIES
CIRCA 1744, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS AT BACK
Modelled by P. Reinicke and probably J.J. Kändler, standing before a tree-stump in dancing pose and holding a slapstick in his right hand, wearing a pointed grey hat, a short purple-lined black cape, a tunic with chequer-pattern, scattered playing cards and pink panels, white breeches and yellow shoes, on a mound base applied with flowers and foliage (restoration to hat, little finger of right hand and flowers and foliage)
5 5/8 in. (14.7 cm.) high

Provenance

With Michele Beiny, New York, from whom it was acquired on 16 July 2002.

Literature

Birte Abraham, Commedia dell'Arte, The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection of European Porcelain and Faience, Amsterdam, 2010, pp. 60-61.

Special Notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

Reinicke's work notes do not identify which Harlequin he was working on in April 1744: '1 Arlequin von gleicher Grösse angefangen' (Started to model 1 Harlquin of the same size), but perhaps it was this model. Kändler himself notes that he corrected a model of Harlequin in the same month, see Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, The Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, p. 309, and where similar examples (inv. nos. G83.1.923 and G83.1.935) are also illustrated.

The model is loosely based on the engraving 'Habit d'Arlequin' by François Joullain from Luigi Riccoboni's Histoire du Théâtre Italien, Paris, 1728.

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