CIRCA 1750, BLUE SHIELD MARK

Originally modelled between 1740 and 1747, this figure belongs to a series of dwarfs inspired by the graphic source Il Callotto resuscitato oder Neü eingerichtes zwerchen Cabinet, which was published in various editions by various authors. As the title suggests it followed in the tradition of Varie figure gobbi, by the baroque printmaker Jacques Callot (1592-1635), which was originally published in about 1622 and reissued throughout the seventeenth century. The origins of the Vienna 'Callot' dwarfs are discussed at length by Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Porzellan, Vienna, 1979, pp. 92-119, where the author also gives details of versions of the dwarfs produced at German and English porcelain factories.