Lot 45
45
A MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN TEASING A PUG
These lots have been imported from outside the EU … Read more
A MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN TEASING A PUG

CIRCA 1740

Details
A MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN TEASING A PUG
CIRCA 1740
Modelled by J.J. Kändler holding a pug under his left arm and winding its tail, with sheet music inscribed Da Capo draped across his left arm, leaning on a tree-stump, the rocky base applied with leaves (restoration and small chip to brim of hat, restoration to pug's front right leg and tail, small chip to bow, minor rubbing to gilding)

6 ½ in. (16.5 cm.) high
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Lot Essay

Meredith Chilton discusses ten large figures of Harlequins modelled by Kändler between 1738 and 1741, including the present model which may perhaps be paired with a Harlequin playing a monkey 'hurdy-gurdy', see Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, the Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, p. 298, Cat. No. 79. This model is recorded in Kändler's Taxa of 1740 '1. theatralisches Figurgen, welches einen Hund statt einer Leyer unterm Arme hält und gleichsam leyert'. For a Harlequin with a similarly coloured jacket see Ulrich Pietsch, Meissener Porzellanplastick von Gottlieb Kirchner und Johann Joachim Kaendler, Dresden, 2006, pp. 61-62, Cat. No. 82.


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