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Lot Essay
Kändler's Taxa or overtime work records for April 1 to the end of July 1738 records the model as: 'Einen nach Watteauischen Kupfferstich geferttigeten Tänzer, mit einer Feder auf den Huth, auf der rechten Achßel hat er ein Mäntelgen hangen', [a dancer completed after a Watteauesque engraving, with a feather on his hat, he has a small cloak hanging on his right arm] and as 'A Harlequin with his hat making a very deep bow. 2 Thalers'. Ingelore Menzhausen has suggested that the inspiration for this grussender Harlequin model is the engraving of the Expulsion of the Italian Comedians of 1697 after a lost painting of Watteau, a copy of which is held at the National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
In Harlequin Unmasked (Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 124-126, Meredith Chilton discusses this specific bowing pose, which appears to reflect a movement performed by the Commedia dell'Arte actors. She also illustrates the example in the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, fig. 199, and quotes Pierre Rameau's description of the pose in his 1714 publication Maître à danser: 'In regard to the passing bow, this is done in the same manner as the bow forwards, save the body must be turned diagonally towards the persons you salute. That is, you turn half- sideways towards them, sliding forwards the foot that is nearest them, whether it be the right or the left, bending at the waist and inclining the head at the same time...'
The strong competition for this amusing Commedia dell’Arte figure when purchased by Patricia Hart in 2007 speaks to the fineness of the modelling and strength of decoration found on this particular example. It exhibits the counter-changed decoration in strong and simple tones, typical of the best pieces decorated under the modellmeister's personal supervision.
Other examples of Greeting Harlequin that have appeared on the art market in the past twenty years include two at Christie’s London [an example with very similar coloring but with no sgraffito stripes sold Christie’s, London, 9 July 2001, lot 236; an example with Harlequin wearing a traditional motley suit sold 13 December 2001, lot 640]; the example previously in the collection of Gustav and Charlotte von Klemperer, sold Bonhams, London, 8 December 2010 lot 240; and that from the collection of Henry H. Arnhold, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 24 October 2019, lot 316.
For a list of the other known examples, see Dr. Erika Pauls-Eisenbeiss, German Porcelain of the 18th Century (1972), Vol. I, pp. 272-273. See also Ulrich Pietsch, Die Arbeitsberichte des Meissener Porzellanmodelleurs Johann Joachim Kaendler, 1706-1775, Leipzig, 2002, p. 59.
In Harlequin Unmasked (Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 124-126, Meredith Chilton discusses this specific bowing pose, which appears to reflect a movement performed by the Commedia dell'Arte actors. She also illustrates the example in the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, fig. 199, and quotes Pierre Rameau's description of the pose in his 1714 publication Maître à danser: 'In regard to the passing bow, this is done in the same manner as the bow forwards, save the body must be turned diagonally towards the persons you salute. That is, you turn half- sideways towards them, sliding forwards the foot that is nearest them, whether it be the right or the left, bending at the waist and inclining the head at the same time...'
The strong competition for this amusing Commedia dell’Arte figure when purchased by Patricia Hart in 2007 speaks to the fineness of the modelling and strength of decoration found on this particular example. It exhibits the counter-changed decoration in strong and simple tones, typical of the best pieces decorated under the modellmeister's personal supervision.
Other examples of Greeting Harlequin that have appeared on the art market in the past twenty years include two at Christie’s London [an example with very similar coloring but with no sgraffito stripes sold Christie’s, London, 9 July 2001, lot 236; an example with Harlequin wearing a traditional motley suit sold 13 December 2001, lot 640]; the example previously in the collection of Gustav and Charlotte von Klemperer, sold Bonhams, London, 8 December 2010 lot 240; and that from the collection of Henry H. Arnhold, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 24 October 2019, lot 316.
For a list of the other known examples, see Dr. Erika Pauls-Eisenbeiss, German Porcelain of the 18th Century (1972), Vol. I, pp. 272-273. See also Ulrich Pietsch, Die Arbeitsberichte des Meissener Porzellanmodelleurs Johann Joachim Kaendler, 1706-1775, Leipzig, 2002, p. 59.