Lot Essay
The gilt figures include very early depictions of Commedia dell'Arte figures on European porcelain. The Sgraffito technique of scratching the design through gilding is quite different from techniques employed at Augsburg, and is similar to the gilt dwarves on the beaker (of circa 1723-25) sold in these Rooms on 21st February 2005, lot 6, and the écuelle illustrated by Stefan Bursche, Meissen, Steinzeug und Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin (Berlin, 1980), no. 97. It has also been suggested (see Sotheby's 1997 catalogue op. cit) that the gilding could have been executed by a Bohemian Hausmaler, as gilt figures with scratched decoration are found on Bohemian glass, see B. Klesse and H. Mayr, Veredelte Gläser aus Renaissance und Barock, Sammlung Ernesto Wolf (Vienna, 1987), nos. 206-213.
The figure of of Pantalone on the teapot is similar to the engraving by Jacques Callot, but not close enough to be certain that it was derived from this engraving.
The figure of of Pantalone on the teapot is similar to the engraving by Jacques Callot, but not close enough to be certain that it was derived from this engraving.