CIRCA 1740

Commedia dell'Arte figures in delftware are rare, although related models are known with attributions varying from De Porceleyne Schotel, De Grieksche A and De Metale Pot. See the similar example in the collection of the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, attributed to Johannes Pennis of De Porceleyne Schotel, illustrated by Marion S. van Aken-Fehmers and Loet A. Schledorn, Delfts Aardewerk, Geschiedenis van een nationaal product, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Catalogue, Vol. II, The Hague, 2001, pp. 98 & 118, cat. no. 2. Van Aken-Fehmers makes reference to the similar model in the Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 94.4.21), attributed to Pieter Kocx of the Greek A Factory and the example in the collection of Fentener van Vlissingen, illustrated by De Jong, Zie Collectie Fentener van Vlissingen, 1964, no. 386, pl. 6, attributed to De Metaale Pot. For a similar model, called Pantalone and lacking the pillory, see the figure sold anonymously by Sotheby's Amsterdam on 19 September 2000, lot 671. A version also exists in red stoneware, see Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, The Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, pp. 164-165, no. 274.