A Meissen porcelain model, the indiscreet Harlequin
Rare and detailed model in very good condition. Large three-figure group depicting the well-known composition of a seated couple with Harlequin on the ground beside them lifting the lady's skirt. The shallow base encrusted with flowers and foliage. The group is flanked by two shrubs and a tree in which a bird is perched (possibly a dove). The faces and clothing are exceptionally finely painted: The lady's dress with scattered “indianische blumen” on yellow ground, the gentleman's red vest with black and gold carnations, Harlequin's jacket with playing cards. Unglazed and unmarked base. Minor retouches to the foliage, one branch broken (barely noticeable), the tip of his yellow shoe restored. H 27.3 cm.
Around 1740, the model attributed to Johann Joachim Kaendler.
This model is not mentioned in Kaendler's workshop records or account books, therefore it cannot be dated with certainty. However, the crisp and detailed quality of the moulding and fineness of the décor speak for a date of around 1740 - 41.
Provenance
Family collection, Rhineland.
Literature
Further, less detailed/possibly later models without the trees:
Lempertz Cologne, auction 1039 on 14th November 2014, lot 665.
Hackenbroich, Meissen and other Continental Porcelain, Cambridge 1956, fig. 78, pl. 55 (The Irwin Untermyer Collection).
Rückert, Meissener Porzellan, Munich 1966, no. 881 (collection of Countess Anita de Zichy Thyssen).
Bursche, Meissen, Berlin 1980, no. 314 (Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin).
Menzhausen/Karpinski, In Porzellan verzaubert, Basel 1993, p. 134 f.
Cat. Commedia dell´Arte, Stuttgart 2001, no. 20 (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum).
Cat. Triumph der blauen Schwerter, Dresden-Leipzig 2010, no. 353.