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Lot Essay
King Frederick the Great of Prussia was so enamoured of this figure that during the second Silesian War in 1745 he purchased '9, emaill. Arlequins mit Kanne' (9 enamelled Harlequins with jug).1
Examples of this model appear with slight variations, such as the angle of the body on the tree-stump and the design of the jug, which appears both with and without a cover. For an example with the initials ZM and date 1738 inscribed on the jug see Reinhard Jansen (ed.), Commedia dell'Arte, Fest der Komödianten, Keramische Kostbarkeiten aus den Museen der Welt, Stuttgart, 2001, p. 43, no. 14. The letters apparently refer to Zanni Müller, the court jester Joseph Ferdinand Müller, who called himself 'Zanni'. He often played the role of Harlequin in the comedies performed by his drama group at the Dresden court. For further discussion see H. Sonntag, 'Zanni Müller mit Deckelkanne, Zwei Meissener Harlekinfiguren von Johann Joachim Kändler' in Weltkunst 5, 1995, p. 582f.
Two further figures of the same model from the Pauls Collection are illustrated by Dr. Erika Pauls-Eisenbeiss, German Porcelain of the 18th Century, London, 1972, Vol. I, pp. 264-267, where she cites other comparable examples.
1. See Ulrich Pietsch, Die Figürliche Meissner Porzellanplastik von Gottlieb Kirchner und Johann Joachim Kändler. Bestandskatalog der Porzellansammlung Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Munich, 2006, p. 63.
Examples of this model appear with slight variations, such as the angle of the body on the tree-stump and the design of the jug, which appears both with and without a cover. For an example with the initials ZM and date 1738 inscribed on the jug see Reinhard Jansen (ed.), Commedia dell'Arte, Fest der Komödianten, Keramische Kostbarkeiten aus den Museen der Welt, Stuttgart, 2001, p. 43, no. 14. The letters apparently refer to Zanni Müller, the court jester Joseph Ferdinand Müller, who called himself 'Zanni'. He often played the role of Harlequin in the comedies performed by his drama group at the Dresden court. For further discussion see H. Sonntag, 'Zanni Müller mit Deckelkanne, Zwei Meissener Harlekinfiguren von Johann Joachim Kändler' in Weltkunst 5, 1995, p. 582f.
Two further figures of the same model from the Pauls Collection are illustrated by Dr. Erika Pauls-Eisenbeiss, German Porcelain of the 18th Century, London, 1972, Vol. I, pp. 264-267, where she cites other comparable examples.
1. See Ulrich Pietsch, Die Figürliche Meissner Porzellanplastik von Gottlieb Kirchner und Johann Joachim Kändler. Bestandskatalog der Porzellansammlung Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Munich, 2006, p. 63.