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Lot Essay
Mezzetin is recorded in Reinicke's work notes for August 1744: '1 detto Mezetin, v. gleicher Grösse, in Thon bosirt' (1 ditto Mezetin, of the same size, modelled in clay), see Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, The Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, p. 312, no. 113 for the reference and a similar example, and p. 145, ill. 235 for the related engraving.
The model was inspired by the engraving 'Habit de Mezzetin', by François Joullain from Luigi Riccoboni's Histoire du Théâtre Italien, Paris, 1728. According to Meredith Chilton, ibid., Singapore, 2001, pp. 88-90 and p. 97, Mezzetin belongs among the 'zanni', the servant characters of the Comedy; he was a gifted musician but like so many of the characters unscrupulous and 'ready to gamble and stir up trouble'.
The model was inspired by the engraving 'Habit de Mezzetin', by François Joullain from Luigi Riccoboni's Histoire du Théâtre Italien, Paris, 1728. According to Meredith Chilton, ibid., Singapore, 2001, pp. 88-90 and p. 97, Mezzetin belongs among the 'zanni', the servant characters of the Comedy; he was a gifted musician but like so many of the characters unscrupulous and 'ready to gamble and stir up trouble'.