Harlequin and Columbine
Meissen model by Johann Joachim Kaendler, circa 1743; moulding and decoration shortly thereafter
Height: 15.4 cm
No crossed swords mark (as is typical).
Inscribed with a painted “K.” in black.
Model number: 404 (corresponds to 1743, see Rückert, Meissener Porzellan 1710–1810, 1966, p. 42)
Provenance:
Swiss private collection
= Auction Lempertz, Cologne, 11 May 2012, lot 46
Kaendler describes the group in his Taxa as follows:
“1. of the same kind, consisting of two figures, in which a Harlequin sits beside a lady, attempting to caress her, whereupon she strikes him with a slapstick, 8 thalers.”
Comparable examples:
- Collection Pauls-Eisenbeiss (German Porcelain of the 18th Century, vol. 2, pp. 301 f.; Menzhausen, p. 137)
- Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Rückert 1966, no. 868, formerly collection of Countess Anita de Zichy-Thyssen = Collection Fritz Thyssen, 1986 catalogue, no. 51 = illustrated in Rückert/Willsberger, pl. 81
- Collection of Prince Amyn Aga Khan, no. 61
- Gardiner Museum, Toronto (Object numberG83.1.919; Chilton 2001, no. 94, p. 139)
- Rückert in Keramos no. 153 / 1996, pp. 180 f., where the comb-like eyebrows and so-called “pierced pupils” are highlighted as rare features
- John Sandon (p. 43) describes the group as: “This magnificent baroque sculpture, full of life, character and movement, represents Kaendler at his best.”
