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A MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN PLAYING THE BAGPIPES
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 2… 顯示更多 THE COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE Developed in Rome in the mid-16th century, Commedia dell'Arte was a form of amusing street theatre which was performed by travelling actors. It was initially impromptu and unscripted, and the plot could incorporate topical scandal or politics to engage local audiences. As the tradition of Commedia dell'Arte became more established, the fashion for it spread. Italian actors began to perform in France in the late 16th century, and by the end of the 17th century they had settled permanently in Paris, having been given a home at the Hôtel de Bourgogne. The Hôtel de Bourgogne troupe was an important one; it included Angelo Constantini, who created the new role of Mezzetin by adopting a new costume and transforming the character of Scapin, and it also included Tiberio Fiorelli, who developed the character of Scaramouche. They performed at Louis XIV's court and they also performed for the king and his guests at more private and intimate gatherings. Unfortunately their outrageous antics, which had made them so popular, also eventually got them into trouble. In 1697 the rumour that they were planning a performance with the same title as a scandalous novel which ridiculed the Queen caused their expulsion from Paris by order of the king. The scene of their expulsion was painted by Watteau, and Louis Jacob's engraving of the (now lost) painting is illustrated on page 9. The Saxon ruler Augustus 'The Strong' invited Angelo Constantini, the famous Mezzetin from this expelled troupe, to Dresden to form a new troupe of Italian comedians and singers there. As a young prince, Augustus had travelled around Europe on his Grand Tour between 1687 and 1689, and he is recorded as having attended comedy performances at Versailles. It would almost certainly have been Constantini's troupe which he had seen there, and in Dresden Constantini was given the title 'Camérier du Roi' and 'Trésorier de Ses Menus Plaisirs'. As the Meissen factory was owned by Augustus, it is perhaps not surprising that they should have led the way with the production of comedy figures in porcelain. In 1716 a new troupe were allowed to perform again in Paris, and leading French artists including Watteau and Lancret attended their performances. Their paintings of these performances were engraved, and these engravings played an important role in popularising the refined but light-hearted rococo style. The engravings would also have a decisive impact on porcelain factories across Europe as the poses and costumes captured in the prints were used by modellers for inspiration. For the past thirty years, Patricia Hart has travelled across Europe and her native America, seeking out prime examples of Commedia dell'Arte figures. Drawn to the distinctive costumes worn by the different actors in the troupe, she succeeded in gathering a dazzling array of characters made at different porcelain factories. Most of the central characters from the comedy are represented, and some are produced in different versions from a number of factories. One of the key characters, Pantalone, is represented by examples from Frankenthal, Fürstenburg, Meissen, Vienna and Kloster Veilsdorf (see lots 29-33, 49 and 53). These figures have brought fascination and fun, as well as exquisite art, to her life, and their dispersal will undoubtedly bring the same vitality and playfulness to other collections.
A MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN PLAYING THE BAGPIPES

CIRCA 1736

細節
A MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN PLAYING THE BAGPIPES
CIRCA 1736
Modelled by J.J. Kändler, seated on rockwork, looking to the right, wearing a white and gilt tricorn hat, a white ruff, a chequered diamond-pattern jacket in blue, black and yellow, striped red and white breeches and yellow shoes, holding a bagpipe under his left arm (restoration to hat, pipe cracked and restored, chipping and restoration to left hand, very minor footrim chipping)
4 5/8 in. (11.6 cm.) high
來源
'An English Private Collection', Christie's, London, 22 June 1992, lot 209.
'Meissen Porcelain from a European Private Collection', Sotheby's, London, 17 June 1997, lot 111.
出版
Listed by Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, The Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, p. 295.
Birte Abraham, Commedia dell'Arte, The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection of European Porcelain and Faience, Amsterdam, 2010, pp. 30-31.
注意事項
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

榮譽呈獻

Dominic Simpson
Dominic Simpson

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拍品專文

This figure was reworked several times between July 1736, when the figure first appeared in Kändler's work notes,1 and 1750, when some of the works may have been carried out with Kändler's supervision. The earliest examples appear to have tricorn hats, rather than the pointed hat which is more usual (see lot 10), and their crossed legs are separated from the base. Meredith Chilton illustrates three of these early figures in the George R. Gardiner Collection, Toronto, noting that the decoration of each figure is different and that it is 'clear that the Meissen factory took pains to distinguish each figure from the very beginnings of production'.2

Chilton suggests that the graphic source for this figure may be an engraving by Charles-Antoine Coypel from his series Don Quichote, which shows a bagpiper seated with his legs crossed and playing the bagpipes for a dancing couple.3


1. 'Einen Arlequin mit dem Tutel Sack aufs Lager geändert und zum abformen tüchtig gemacht' (A Harlequin with bagpipes, in stock, figure changed and prepared for modelling), cited by Ingelore Menzhausen, In Porzellan verzaubert, Die Figuren Johann Joachim Kändlers in Meissen aus der Sammlung Pauls-Eisenbeiss Basel, Basel, 1993, p. 30.
2. Meredith Chilton, ibid., 2001, pp. 294-295.
3. Meredith Chilton, ibid., 2001, p. 185, fig. 300.

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